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RF_NGO_20_SUDHA
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Is China Going CAPITALIST?
s:~ssa's-Ks
4
the warning that a "serious tendency towards
capttadism will become rampant if we,
in the
slightest way, neglect political work among
peasants . According to official statistics
these reforms have paid off. Average income
has jumped by 66 per cent over the past five
years to above US $350 a year. If the trend
continues, the average Chinese, having acqui
red bicycles, radios and watches, can now as
pire to motorcycles and TV sets.
In this article K.S.C. Pillai - a Singapore
based correspondent - reviews the recent
trends that are taking place in China.
(f
/IS MA1X OR LENIN
8n
THE ANSWER !
i
A senior Chinese journalist, critically examining the work of
iob^of0“dent3.baS®d.in BeijinS- recently said they did a fairly good
o
reporting China as far as speed and subject matter are con“Oh t0 be a"lr’a 1”
It
/ Liu Qizhong, an assistant executive editor with China Features said hD
« was s»metimes shocked and occasionally amused by their miscon^ion I
misinterpretation of what is going on in China.
^conception &
D
This judgement on China-watchers was made during a seminar in October
but Liu could well have written it in oconnection with the new famous
SCe^erJ PEOTLE'S WILY article interpreted in some qu^rteZs as
°f MarZiSt the°ry’ thS C°™i3t Pa^'s
The commentary warned Chinese communists against taking a fundamentatOwards the works of Marx- "We should no/adopt a dogma
tic attitude towards Marxism. The era is developing, and new situa
tions and new problems keep arising," it said.
i
6 The Party paper then went on to say: "Marx passed away 101 years ae-o anfl
are “T^han 3 CentUry °ld’ SOffle W0re SMslo^? 'Sa?
ime, after wmch the situation changed greatly. There are many things
4
4
<s
4
4
H444444 444 4 44 0444444.444 44 4444444444^
66 that Marx and Engels could. not have experienced, or-Lenin either.We
cannot expect their works to ;solve today1s problems.”
Sems
" re?;”‘
«». also
economic reform programme, which boo ’'P' S
‘o“»W
c““-
ovioeut in thia stafe.Sr-The
hooks-^Wiolo-hearted^upporiTLS Je g^a ““ ’the’ °:7°
f0Und “
rades who have neglected the economy lo,e no more tlSf’"’’ “
’*
to make gooa „ appa„nt dssion ia the SmterVatSi “Jt00"!'^0"
phrase "one cannot expect Marx1^ n-nd To-n-; T
ber ' Article. It said the
10.3" shouM hete
«»»-
The new changes «oro ae<!ePtea/$& laree because of the enormous popular
disenchantment with
r,.
policies. Particularly unpopular were the
Cultural Revolution
earlier Great Leap'jorward \hich com^'Upside dOwn» and the
out to be a disaster?
’
co™ist theoreticians now say, turned
THE. RESULTS OE FOREIGN CAPITAL
mu-
Agency, 362 joint ven?™ fa^ b?
?
°ffiCial Xinhaua news
foreign investors, 1 ?2 of them ine®tabdlshed between Chinese and
the six years, China's exports
“s °f 1 984- During
S3.6 billion in 1978 to ^-billion Lfj fe™
lnCreased from
Encouraged by thb. inflow of foreign canibii ov,-;
intention ,to-intensify efforts tf
* 1’ Chlna.reCently announced its
a large :number of key capital const de™lse existing enterprises and build
?»d telecommunications’ Lntng tan^ort"
»aio
industry.
p
f offshore oil and the power
Investment procedures were to be further sinnlifiad
+
reduce waiting time for government
f d to °Ut red tape and
some of the complaints of forp-ixm hPP •
1 ln an apparent effort to meet
were also thrown open to fo^® ®? b“S,nen- Several co^al cities
-ives m the free economifToX™S-re offered special ineeneconomic t—
lity in the production, pricing and
6 neater flexibij pricing
marketing
state retained its grip
on corf and
-ind^?
* ®
many gOods’ while the
core "industries
coal, oil and cement.
industries such as steel, electricity,
A MOVE
AWLFROM MARX AND MAO
Significantly9 the original c■
commentary also had paragraphs that paid homaJeMarx. ’’As the descendants of Marx
and develop Marxism in practice.o.There are we have the duty to enirich
many classical works of
arxism and it is necessary to select the
major works to study. In study-
- 67 ing Marx, it is important to
P y attention to learning the universal laws
expounded by the classical writers
m solving problems, »we should not as well as the stand viewpoint & method
cling to some individual phrases or
some concrete themes."
Marxism, umna,under the leadership
wayfrom Marxist dogma towards
, x. 5 is encouraged, the
connotations and market forces are
eng's famous statement that it
Of_white
as long it catches the mouse
was perhaps the precursor of the radical
------- cnanges to come.
Bong, who interestingly, 7’was purged for being a/’capitalist roader during
Ae Maoist regime, has been
2ii moving away
rom rigid Maoist dogma towards a
capitalist system, in effect if not in
name.
The"new look" started in 1978 v,
with the C
‘
dismantling
of collectives in rural
areas, the gradual introduction
-i of a mixed
ncl
economy
and
efforts to attract
’-oreign capital and know-how.
a^tremenlous SeratioT of^^^iroducti"’
Zendon® described as
to return to the family aSS the\SseXrJ°rCeS’ "
thuS enabled
system" was introduced und°r which nea* + onomic unit. The "responsibility
basis under contracts signed with thp6^8 fanaed the land on a household
produce had to be delivered to the State
-'Whll® a set amount of farm
of m the free market.
State, the remainder could be disposed
Urban economy became more profit-oriented with fnn+n •
nomy, wages being linked with productive+-v
factories getting more autoproductivity
market
auction and distribution of consumer
gZoJs and
slt^V
dictatin^ Pr°~
slower than in rural areas. --------- • goods. But the change here was much
Both peasants, iworkers and factory managers .were freed from the endless
managers .were freed
political meetings and poster1 siting
which Mao had introduced wf?h ?he
warning that a “ serious tendency towards <
capitalism will become rampant if
we, in the slightest
J--^ way, neglect political^work
—
among peasants."
has jumped by^^pt^'cent^ver^he^past^^ry
Avera^e ^come
If the trendI continues, the average
t0 ab°Ut US$55° a
and watches (can now aspire to moXy£^9S:ndawnS3:S?ire<i bi°ycles’
8 eJf~enlPloye'a; China had, in 1983,
China had, in 1985,
times the number in 1978. The self em~i erS ln ^^toy and commerce, 80
crafts, retail, repaid ca^i^S^C^-
more tha/l ^million^Iil-emSo^d*0-
the year^OO? which Jouirmean^^er^0^ Pf°dUOt to US ® 1000. billion by
by
Potion would have increased from th^/eseTtX bfllion;
When major reforms t----- --were announced last October, Prime Minister
warned that the government
°'“ a~” is“accounted
B
Since almost 25 per cent 0?°™ ha”
of
government
spending
subsidies on basic items i
v
for bv
such as food,housing and transfport, it is clear
6B that prices would have to go up..Subsidies were a major factor that.kept
prices low and inflation minimal m the past.
P°licy
opening the
---------- J which said:
Ids.:
then stoutly defended by the
T4. B1u’“U
n ke.«plUll»
u ~ -------capitalism.
that
feai.3
It should be capitalism
c apitalism.”
that fears socia-
The party organ took note of the reservation of
some Chinese that the
open-door policy could undermine China's
sovereignty,
apparently mindful
of the Old colonial days when Western r*
powers extracted big trading conle^Se^sP i
Paper *ls°'^icTt^dlha^
--------—.j policy.
the "more conervative senior party members had doubts
about the
the
open
doubts about
In reality, in capitalism there are many things thqf - ~ are useful
ixsm. We only want to reject the decadent
t^hlnS, to s’ocia-rt ”it said.
As if to cushion the criticism <1
’
that China would be fswamped’ 'by capitalist
countries, Beijing recently extended
''
—
of China"'s ’open'do!r
^C1^d® foreiSn investments from the
Soviet Union, Eastern
E rope and Third World countries*
The Communist Party's theoretical journal, Red Flag ■also came to the
li!m-' !er! "neW P°liCy SayinS forei^ investments’and
de-
woessary ana tensfiotarto tl,e da^p^'y^Lr1*’’
pro-
ductive forces.
It quoted Deng as
saying- that even if foreign investment reached 1 OO-billion yuan U40-billion)
China would not be shaken. Actual investments so
far, as noted earlier, total only .$9-billion.
that th<3 i>rivate economy was
still veXsm!XXXbordXt e
sru
countryside and the nartv
in . the factories too Sott
prevail over party bureaucrat!.
the
light of the success in the
reS°1Ve t0
the reforms
IDanagel,S and tea°hers are expected to
i
THE RESULT OF SWEEPING ECONOMIC REFORMS
he“
.HU™
specialist qualification !!! 1 +
pSrty bureancrats with no
half of whom have little edXt!^ of the.40-mllllon Party membership, onelution on the mere credential +h!+
domed up during the Cultural Revoe mere credential that they were more Red than expect. .
A few days after the December article in the PF<7PTT?'q mattv xu
forces newspaper Peonl^'c nu
.t. e “ tne fhOPLE S DAILY, the armed
i
It said the decentralisation (of~ management authority should not be allowed
to weaken party discipline ’’which alone
----- -j can guarantee unity.”
A negative effect of the reforms could be the
against pockets of affluence
~ T
e
“* w ■••**£3
jealousy and resentment
a. W V .
^asen (Chinese slang for
brutal attacks on a wealthy
peasant.
As Mao had warned in 1 955, ” new rich peasants
and many well-to-do middle peasants strive are springing up everywhere
to become rich peasants. On
the other hand, many poor peasants are j
still
living
in poverty...If this
tendency goes unchecked, -J.
the polarization in the country side will inevitable be aggravated day by./ day.”
Another fall-out from the open policy is the
rise in crime, ssuch
...L as blackmaiketmg, bribery and corruption
■’ snmggling, swindling, profiteering? tax
evasion and commercial fraud, as i
more tourists and investors flock to the
country.
nr. Prostitution,
He «• + •
; once’ completely eliminated, is said to- be reappeawron JleS
has already been
been launched
launched warning
against
economic wrL^
68*‘ Vanipaien haS
”
economic wrong-doers along with a call to "battle crimes fit harshly.
ast
firmly, accurately and ruthlessly."
adminis+St36 pr°blems’ which
not beyond the control
of a determined
administration, support for the changes is <
' - '
expected
to grow mainly because
the people in.China (like the Chinese all over
the world)
J are a hardworking
and enterprising lot with the ambition to run their
own business, even if
it is only a hawker stall or a trishaw.
will not be swamped. Let him hnve +h—-§•— sm w^th Chinese characteristics,
he said on JaZry 20 "mXet
^^^alist sWf^’
the failure of our policy. We don't think that
would happen^
- KSC PILLAI
Sunday Herald
bangalore, inarch 51, 1985.
-o-o-o-
ISI DOCUMENTATION CENTRE,
Post Box 4628, Bangalore-560 046.
::
Ur-„,
HSAl-rH CEt£
3^6, v
‘"‘c°""i6Qa^ - '
o'-’
DEBATB BETWEEN PARTY AND NON-PARTY GROUPS
( A REPLY. TO TEE CPI-M )
June issue, 1984).As a response, Harsh Sc'hi has published
an article. ,.>The i^cr.al -other"' , "Debate between party and
S^ebXflcg
thG P°nOfflic and Political Weekly, dated
ol iotioX^S:
r0pro'1“« 11
»= “
aocu-outatlon
THE CPI
VIPV P OINT
:
The recent years have seen a considerable warming up of the
deoate beeween party and non-party activists and groups.(l) The
reasons for this' are not.too difficult to discover. Increasingly
as we move into .a situation where earlier, time-tested, theories,
ideologies ? premises and guidelines for political action get confused
and blurred , when one dominant feeling is that of deep insecurity
and ineffeetuainess, a common tendency is for the " so far held views"
o harden. Debate then.is transformed into a triade against the other,
perceived as a competi-cor if not an antagonist. This process of
retreating into one s own fortress, preferably with hi^h walls, it
is hoped would serve the twin purposes of effectively rebutting
tne others and calling to the faithful to renew their pledges of
ct J-J. 6
J-o,^u. C O *»
. ,.This psychology
_
.... io Jmmon to mostL participants in most debates.
Arming
onose3.f
with
a moral -mnt native $ the attempt is to denigrate
j.t_
tne other, score poiirus
own premises or -j-q
participants-.
Rarely is there an effort to examine one’s
Jclle clesourse to involve other potential
^ecenj. article by Prakash Karat, "Action-Groups/Voluntary
fcne t9S4.)V??tOr ln. Im*oer:Lalist Strategy " (The Marxist, April-
.ne 1984) falls m tins gense. Being the first public article on
i-^fhq ikt‘T°1\by ? Serilor functionary of the CPI(m), and published
in the theoretical quarterly of the party, the article which seeks
of the CPTfii^ ^a^01^ale °f th® resolution of the Central Committee
.
(Jo adopted in June 1981, deserves serious attention. The
foaEoCwsC°:°
°f
artiCle’ in
°f the schoS^s as
There is a sophisticated and comprehensive strategy worked out
in imperialist quarters to harness the forces of voluntary
agencies/action groups to their strategic design to penetr-te
Indian society aid influence its course of devSopmen" It is
the imperialist ruling circles which have provided through
their academic outfits the political and ideological basis
groups9 OU‘'J'°Ok °f a substantial number of these proliferating
- 58 -
By providing liberal funds to these groups, imperialiam has
t0 penetrated directly vital sections of the
Ahif ,S0°lety ai?d Simultaneously use this movement as a
ehicale to counter and disrupt the potential of the left
movemen t•
The thrust of the argument is
very clear. Accortding to Prakash Karat,
the impetus for work done on a non-party basis amongst the oppressed
and the exploited strata
.
comes from the West, either directly through
a funding linkage,
■ °r 1'}cirec'tly through an ideological process. It ’
does not matter ix” you 0.0 flood relief work in West Bsnsal> run schools>
c..eCxies, hospitals anywhere in the ccountry; create developmental
-------j, provide new tools and t:chlli^es for
groups u°e
”he
and artisan
O^oups, Uu,e one media, the
the law, the professions to research analvs^
expose the realities in diffirent parts of the country; or much
attempt
mobolise
^i;!®Ua
Jte??tbto
.t0/
01’011Se and
and organise the hitherto neglected in
an
aLt^mpu to fight for an order that ensures minimum justice and
equality for all. Whether you belong to the Church, a religious
trust, a Gandhian/Sarvodaya outfit, a secular group, or any other
deft-wing opnion and practice-------vou ,all_stand condemned
^^|^?-23££^o^s^roman^^^
,a^_chjL^_l_en^in£^
.,£oj>ular 'Lri^^actj-onaries ". The choice
the label is yours. The judgement has been pronounced. Whatever
may oe the di.ierences tnat the different groups may perceive amongst
xemse ves, no matter how much they may consider themselves a disparate
contradictory heterogeneous lot, Prakash Karat has
united them all under a single category — a ragged band of fifth
oolumists engaged in the single task of discrediting the Left,
tS InA
d
CPI(Ky , and thereby derailing the onward march of
tho Indian democratic and socialist revolution.
A^AIJTST US :
Karat’s argument is based on <a few
”
premises. These relate to the
sources
ofo inspiration
and sustenance
« 4.’
,, -■
,
-------- —~ of non-party groups: the imnlications of the funding linkage; the class background/temparament of
the non-party activists
activists;5 and their <specific actions, host important
however
,-0 zever is the assumption that work on a non-party basis is
-• ■
"-Politics is the exclusive concern of political parties
and even here the preference is fa- the communist tradition defined
X’IrstSnd the„vl®ws lleld by one party. We finally end up with an
d ??’ . lf you are not with us you are against ife" and this
dofimtionally is converted into being "anti-people".
_ Before getting into an examination of the specific assumptions,
ib is in my view necessary to go back a little into history. The
01, to mobolise and organise the large masses of the oppressed and
down-trodden;.their attempts to provide an alternative ideological
tradition which would not only unite the fragmented masses but also
provide strategies and tactics to achieve the goal of a classless >
society, a democratically run society where liberty and equality
s-uand together — all this shines like a beacon for all those
muerested in the fulfilment of these aims and objedtives.
- 59 contribution in organising famine relief durin., the .rest
Bengal famine, organising citizen’s committees tn r™i-n+the' ^reat
•reat
communal
a^2OofaJ1dfer2Iyc:itt2:
SAm MofvimXaE:dS
all highpoints in the Indian neople's stru^ST-
^lengana, are
i mg.D0.jE SEW ? MW m
Eow dnUfh°Vnr the.last few decades where has thio old elan .me ■?
The purpose oTS ^^0X^0?^
Communist parties, but certain ^stio^d^t "bXedf Jhlther
or IWotoW, ho» effcotlvo „e tk* ComSu “S 1^22’21
need to channelise their miserv fru^t-m-H
■f8110' sucourj ln their
tlve »a political task tor social tra»sform.2o»“2“t2tLt22n?"C"
of oteusels-
«“ •—«. -Sts St.
that
P01itical Pities., in particular the
mmunist Parties, have not been able to organise large sections of •
the working classes, rural poor, women, urbtn unor.-Sised sector
working classes. So what do those clashes and strata do ?
It is this gap between the partv and the elaq*?
action ^oapa „d ?lln.stry
proliferating and --entrenching themselves in th. vital section^ n?
Indian society -' it is because at some perceived level they X
SSS
2 'W °f ““ p“ple “
»»»the o™18t
/
legitimacy. Accusing others of being effective i*
aardly a defense of one's own failures - and effective thevZn.f 7,
otherwise why perceive them as a threat ?
'
Z
* be’
.as£S£L
s J
x“pi'
‘^o'w.’Jo^tMpt.X
nignii^nt them. (2J No one is arguing that political parties are
or that the ComElunist Parties in particulaThave
tn h
Or
o be perceived as antagonists. What in fact is being argued is a
need for ^redefinition of politics--, to introduce back in?o tL
'
- 60 -
II
»f
,PJ‘' ij2° ““ “-"d t0 ”ap“a t0
the
Karat's article. The m!dn thrSt L ths
e°0?"P°’tr sr°“I>s “ lMk“h
U^e. - those of fSihTS^Soio^^Soi ’o"?^":.
create subversive and anti-national grolpd and u o2o
dlrectly
co-opt and distrot their persneei-ivl tp k
People, or more subtly
imperialist stratagems Of working through ^ouj^nnj 2 Warm ae,ainst
£ ^ o EFsEr-
k
qlestionr^first^s^t i^w rk^
when discusSi
classes hardly have enough to sriv-H-
i \
a11’ tile sukaltern
Of all surplus is the laboi S thn w ^Ulred md since the source
little wrong in laying ciaim to that
13
surplus. So, in
argument is not against funding per so
'
CnSe’ the
tod this depends, upon the funding source the
“ °f the fundin®the receiving party, and the uselo which the fEdTlT °f. th?+fUnding’
disaggregate the package, then wo are 11=1-1 + E •, 0 put’ It we d° n°t
camp „hlch soot
1S“2 t0
“th« th=
1OU0UU003 all llu^oAs ooiihSr^™tlM oth» »“<* ■
distinction beSeen Se cone St o? SerSl °f th\blurri^ of
historical conjunctures or contexts 12 thSdhS^Y0^®3 certain
act within that context. Asciribing
Asciribing’a^''wih 0J
afe“C1?s which
and thereby converting the concentJ 11 f. ? own
to imperialism
this r 9„i UP b7
at work.
j
concept into a
J an understaaiigg u±
of the
deeper forces
CIie deeper
surpxrisingSpr^
that when
h fX“faalj‘*X»"^LS?
“h“ the
with th. World Bant or with hultl-SuS‘Z
th. r“Z
tL:^xz““±£?~
*■> Xl^W. Of
foroynopt. to oooopfS^’f",. ZO“ .’“SZXZd
threatening2?1212221211 “
th.y Uouht. 33
1» Ml«
2°Ome P^^^^rly
„
t
“ ’
- 61
WOT Hi' A POSITION TO_BE EVgR.WHEPtg^:
a^es when we read the argument against the
groups
engage i*.
The jfn
Itaoh using stl.00t th8at‘ voluntary
J
ej««p= aisaso
IS. The
Jen Jatya
Ketye
1G po
P°0
Ple
injustice is laudable act, but similar'''
°f ?i
tllG
°P
le against
Singh Ohanni in “Punjab or cSL
lar ™rk?°*e bjr a Gurdarshan
---------- 1
If the Party organises ™
Z,
^dhra
’become
I-- dangerous•
thou ii Is
uJS "rifSo
lh
-i Thane
Sena or the
-revolutionary. The
“““‘t™ wojro-oo is recognised by
.
thit
uxx?v offIelal
uinciai support on some scale
activities
(during
1977^70)
nn _ __Ft t-H o+v.,, of
.X. Education
1
no C
permitted to apply for Ministry
group was
------- ^ands from West
or Tripura or Kerala.
i-aucation
—j Bengal,
aurJS
XT^‘pSXX:
■“ E— «-.
political space — a situetinn , i-, 7
f xth3 Same cultural and
loyalty of the same b4c "
in
c°“Petition over the"scare
I’arty in fact hasZo Xe
even where the
wanting to monopolise all space^oFint1106’ Lfilld tMs 'tendency of
because the Party is empiJcaSv Z “tervonta°? lightening, and
and to act everywhere, the battle is" then P°Sltl°n to be evefyhwere,
of criteria of legitimacy! Only tha? wLZtTp >
t0 des±^ati°a
correct can be so.
wnich the Party pronounces as
? Ijobab^ but then
the shifting criteria
themselves, forces mo into this uncomfort m C°meG•both othors and
guilty because of his or her origin- o+h 3
posiblon- Someone is
from outside; others because thov in Z8 beCauCe tlleZ get support
Parishad, dare to "ais^ZZ^Ike^tZ ?ri±
Sahit^
the paranoia stop ? And who does nil -Hd f ^ent Valley. Where does
agents of neo-imperialL:
Hot so m^ch the
but those who do claim inspiraUon end f
WantS to isolata»
tradition.
Piracion and legacy from the Communist
I find all those
themselves unimport^t^burbecnus^the-3’ not?°cause th°y are in
::
-yon" Wo;S%JiX"e?ot-th6 oentral concerns
and dilemmas facing c
transformation. And I
^_,.°Lar^S a/enuine revolutionary
• And I wish that Prakash Karat had raised them
instead.
III
and acSoXXr^^^^SSX";voluntary anoles
be denied that the major reason that thf^ 7 ch^aoter- ** cannot
not working within political Zues s
individuals are
practice" of the parties stifling if not n—S° Z7 find the"empirical
in a sense the rigid!tv thp W
2
®n dOTmi,i^ht false. It is
constant side-tracking of issu— ZCdir1C+and hlorarc}-ic nature, the
loti,
of. .o.°e«b=t”™e:x^eo‘jSiT’to
being the sole repository of all truthZ^
people outside the fold of the parSes.
t ® arrogance about
whicil drive
- 62 -
This is not to arcuc that people either leave or io not join political
the parties including those of the left.
q
Now, in a situation, where the "dominant leader" too is railing
against the political parties and is seeking to dolegi^isl
orlv
political parties, or tnG doctoral system but "politics itself”
ss-
o“U8.,
Z-dF?‘
JOT SOLIDARITY ; FOLLOW YOUR Qffl pATH ? ? ? .
to bot^sides ^rSt^ P?'rt
\hat thiS sleiSht-of’hand is common
y uow siaes. the Left raises the bogey of b^ino- under
from thn T^-P4- 4-v.otjparticularly lor chooe who claim some sustenance
ho-in th
tradition becomes an uncomfortable dilemma. The fear of
ein considered a renegade, of being sneered at by committed " Marxists 11
keeps many moving m a direction that they have perhaps started
X1StS
suspecting has gone awry. Maybe we need to go back to Marx for some
direction. He himself never suffered from such fears, ending as he did
fro« Dtttr? "“il1?? ta”10”" “a ”ith ““
quotation
irom usnte .
Scqui il jmo corso, a laflcia dvi le genti" ( whatever
the people may say, follow your own path
(3)
Everyone unfortunately is not Marx, and thus lesser mortals do
wMcha+hhtiln,}th^ dlleiama* How do 'they reconcile their analysis
hB+h thenleads them into certain actions, and the end conseauencos
dL™S<.*,0J
y ’'ht01’ “y' “ °“ta“ '“«=•
uiamotrically opposite of what they want ?
««t“° bo
4TO NOT SO ggUINB TOS " ^4 HOW DO gE DISMiSH m 8
activitSo^tJ11®^
in the contsxt °f the developmental
Igoncl^^Shis^s alsoU?hi°11Vt°Ja“P^^
the^ta^^m^e^lomental
agencies, inis is also the rationale used by voluntary "-roues in
justifying their activities in providing services which the^tate is
So10o L cl L C •
°ftOn
aCUvtieS are supported fuXd\y
v
- 63 Bug when these activtics of voluntary agencies are used as a rationale
for lowering the scale of state involvement in welfare and developmental
tasks, i.e. when tho state starts abjuring its developmental function,
then what do the sensitive voluntary agencies do ? The situation becomes
even more intricate then the state or ruling parties themselves aet up
voluntary agonoies ’’ on state funds, ostensibly to' " reach the fruits
of development to tho pople". How do we then distinguish between the
"genuine" and not so "genuine" groups ?
These issues are being raised because we seem tx>be operating in a
context where even the"correct issues and concerns" have been monopolised
and are presented m a manner that only strengthens the forces against
whom the fight is to.be carried on. For years many social groups in the
country have been agitating for a uniform civil code and ail the attempts
of the government not to legislate on this crucial issue were seen as
pandering to minority communalism" in an effort to keep intact the
secure vote banks". Finally, we have a situation of a courageous Kuslim
women who challenges Muslim personal law in the Supreme Court. But in
the wake of a number of communal riots, particularly Bhiwandi, and the
striaent support extended to the " uniform civil code" by outright
communal organisation like the Shiv Sena, suddenly a large number of
Tt.„® secular supporters of the uniform civil code have developed cold feet.
WHY
Has iiheissue itself been delegitimised because of the changing
context ? Or is it that these groups do not want to be seen even as
tacit supporters of these communal organisationsy
Similar dilemmas could be raised about a large number of issues
which feature prominently in the Twenty-Point Programme. There is
nothing wrong with the issues. What we may have objection to is the
space within which these issues are being permitted to be tackled. It
is the monopollsa cion of legitimate action that we are objecting to.
And this tendency is not peculiar to the Congress I alone.
1I^H=£^LTY._GRQ1I?S CAUGHT UP ON MICRO SOCIAL REALITY
There is a third major dilemma facing tho groups and this stems
from thoir accent on micro social reality. Thus while the groups
interact intensively in the local speae, are able to appreciate the
local peculiarities and nuances, etc, all of these being the source
of their strength and offectivity, they also unconsciously end up
localising the feeling of " grievance". On a larger scale this
strengthens tho tendency of considering the injustice done in one part
of tho country as tho problem of only that part". So Assam does not
concern the non-Assamese and Punjab makes few ripples in the South.
True, one can hardly blame the groups for a strengthening of this
fooling, but the definitely contribute to it.
- 64 -
IV
iagfiE BQ.JgLfiQ..J? J...?..
So whore do we end up after all this
is i or clarity,
' *
f,aUS??An a.syndromc which Sumanta
——recent article on Punjab :
not know.
o»
need
- o± passionate intensity" ? I do
x' “?hrs“”‘s “a a»b‘t- «■***
that when f—
on the 2groups
and parties
7 with
high levels of acrimo^ and
T and
perception of tlXJh is 1 accusatl0
“sJ on both
—
---—
both sid™_
sides, when one~
.aradod as the only truth, when an entire and
complex legacy is distroted to only justify one's own action, when
abuse and attack are used as
_tno- mechanisms to avoid introspection
then such debates servo little
the few that arc still trying_o topurpose except to confuse and dispirit
~ o carry on.
For moj, the
’* Leftist tradition is e.
more important than any party
and at the end I
n+ +h w • Cl'---- Cal1 0111y <luo'fce Gramsci, fi m±t±nc'
• ’7
at the height of Stalinist terror, " Porce
<
' from prison in 1932
enemies, but hot against a -r+
,rce ‘can be employed against
rapidly to assimilntn
?
n° S Own side whi°h one wishes
I only wish tiSTtS
'
g00dwi11
enthusiasm
one needs".($)
tn-G comrades m the Parties v —
were
a
little
less sure
of themselves. Maybe then debates could bo carried
opprobrium bring attached to the "other". Carried
----L on without moral
Czumdar, Vinod Hehta^Kajni^’Kot-Xi311^ Baner^eQ’ S•Sudarshan, T.K.
various political pJtiS and
&
?f other
in
on this theme. Needless to add I ain„10UPS f°r s'tlmulating discussions
expressed.
c.c_d, I alone remain responsible for the views
Notes:
1. Build Background Papers, Bombay, December 1982,
Bombay, December 1982, Social Action, Vol 34
No 2, April-June 1984; "The Non-‘ :
.-Party Political Process (cd) H.Sethi
and S Kothari WISD, Geneva (forthcoming)Z’
’ the Febr^^l984 issuesiofOESno’-I><I,*a9ii1' Sad Harish Sethi in
3.-B “Hr’
4. Ibid.
^onomc and Political Weekly, January 23, 1982.
SOURCE: "The Immoral1Other1
" Debate between par-ty
Non-Party Groups
by Harsh Sethi in
^ontC and Politioal Weekly dated 23
February 1935 n „
pages 378 to 380. Edited by ISI D.C. "*
9
I.S.I DOCUMENTATION CENTRE,
F<Box 4628,
24, BENSON ROAD,
BANGALORE 560046.
^UDGET BUDGET BUDGET BUDGET BUDGET BUDGET BUDGET BUDGET BUDGET BUIDGET
U
D
G
E
T
RADJIV
BUDGET
PAMPERi 0,5 %
OF POPULATION
PRIVATE
§
CIRCULATION-'/)
ONLY
q
T
/ ^OMMUmuy
the 1985-86 Budget
/
V Main.
I Block
U
^O,arn*n08|a
XD
8^IOfa*660034 G
E
Sone have seen in the 1985-86 Budget a departure
T
from the policy so far followed by the Congress
Party.Are they really new elements in the Budget ?
B
if so, what are they? What are the implications
U
from the social and political point of view?
D
These are the questions which the author of this
G
article is attempting to answer.
E
T?
The social and political implicatiors of
B
U
D
G
E
T
B
U
D
G
E
T
B
U
D
G
E
T
B
U
D
G
E
T
THE BUDGETS OF -tWlHA GANDHI ERA.
B
I4r Rajiv Gandhi appears to bo very conscious about projecting an image B
U
U
of himself that is different from his mother’s.The finance minister,
D
D
Mr Vishwanaxth Pratap Singh’s budget marks a break from the budgets of
G
G
the Indira Gandhi era. Mrs. Indira Gandhi, too,
deviated from the course^
E
traversed by her father in many respects, but she remained faithful
T
to Nehru’s commitment of keeping the public sector as the engine of IndiaT’s
development.• There was not only a nationalisation spree during her regime,
B
but Mrs, Gandhi
’j brief to her finance minister used to be that they could
nehi's
U
1
— and
---- to
-- corporations,
—x------ but they
must d
D guve concessions to income-tax-payers
imd resources for continuous expansion of the public sector.
G find
U
E
Even during the Emergency when the late Sanjay Gandhi pressurised the
T nance minister to give relief
in direct taxation, the 1976-77 Central fl5
plan
outlay
for
the
public
sector
was increased by 50 percent. The public^
B
sector
’
s
role
was
a
matter
of
conviction
for Mrs. Indira Gandhi.She made^
U
D big political capital out of the fact that the' Janata Government was
B
G neglecting the public sector. Her Government’s statement on industrial
Bl
policy
in
1980
siad
that
”
an
unfortunate
development
during
the
recent
E
T political vacuum in the country has been an erosion of faith in the ]publi$
B sector”. It accused the Janata Government of reducing the public sector
E
U into a ’’nobody’s sector” •
T
D
R^JIV BREAKS OUT
—
B
E
However,
the
Ra.
iv
Gandhi
Government
’
s
first
Budget
indicates
that
heU
T
has no intention of following this policy of continuous expansion of the/?
. B public sector. His fiance minister has provided the lowest-ever step-up in
plan outlay, a meagre 6.5 per cent, which is likely to be eaten up by the
U
B
D price rise. Thus in real terms, at best, there will bo zero step-up in
the
plan
outlay
and
it
cou^d^.firy
^yell
be
negative
if
the
rate
of
U
G
D
E
G
T
$
.-nk'-L
' E
T
B
W
Ah
U
W. l
■ ■
B
D
U
G
T
E
G
T
v
/•■
•
•'
Iv f
z-
■
\
■
'•
'YLSOM. Ti '.iC
4. 53-
inflation is higher.What is more disturbing is that it makes
a very
poor start for the Seventh Plan.
The Planning Commission is preparing the Seventh Pl nn wt-fh
sector component of Rs. 1,80,000 Cror'ef. X
p^ceZJL
vsnxi *
P 11C
public
sectpr outlay should be Rs.2,30,000
2,JO,000 crores.To fulfil this outlay,
a
reasonaole beginning should have been Rs. Jfi.OOO crores.
Despite the increase in the central plan assistance to the states the —
total public sector (Centre, States and Union Territories) outlay mAy not
undthLt0/o°f°
31’°00 croros-Theoretically, it is possible to make
up this shortfall.m the subsequent years of the plan. But Mrs. Rajiv Gandhi
a his first mooting with the Planning Commission only reluctantly agreed
to the Rs. I»o0,000 crore plan. It was felt that had his mother not made
a commitment of this size at her last meeting with the commission, Mr.Rajiv
woulci be made good in subsequent years.
RIGHT1 TIME FOR PUBLIC SECTOR EXPANSION
The argument that a smaller allocation for the public sector is due to
a constraint in resources does not hold water. In the Indira Gandhi’s
days, the expansion of the public sector used to bo the first shar■e oh
country's investible resources. Finance ministers used the instrument
of taxation, diverted banking and institutional funds from the private
sector to the public sector, relied on higher foreign aid, or higher
prices of products and services.Sometimes the government relied on
deficit financing for funding the public sector.
_ The time was ripe for a big step-up in the plan outlay : the 22 million
tonne foodgrain bufier st ock, comfortable foroi.
exchange position,
improvement in tne performance of the infrastructure and lowest rate of
inflation in many years are the real economic resources which could have
been easily converted into financial resources
The freezing of the public sector outlay is part of a well thought out
packago.lt seeks to cut public sector spending and as the finance secretary
said in his post-budget -briefing, release
the energies of the private
sector”. In order to demonstrate the new thrust of the budget, the
Prime Minister allowed Mr. Vishwanath Pratap Singh to intrude into
the sphere of other ministries. In his budget speech, the finance minister
announced a new industrial policy and changes in the MRTP Act which falls
withinn the purview of the department of company law. The finance minister
announced a list of industries which have been deliccnsed, raising the
asset limit of HTTP companies from 20 crores to Rs. 100 crores and raising
of the ceiling limit on convertible debentures from 13*5 per cent to 15 per
cent. As a result of raising the asset limit, 49 industrial houses out of
101 covered by the MRTP will be free from anti-monopoly restrictions.
INDUSTRIXL RECESSION INEVITABLE
Ch; Jging the mixed economy in favour of the private Kxpxisi sector
has its social and political implications. In economic terms, the sudden
- 54 -
GenerainMo^rI’ishtoruq1?yS
cn8inoe^S industry what
general liotoi^ is to US engineering industries. The cutback in the
railways developmental activities will hit the engineering industries
particularly of the eastern region. In 1985-86 the'railwayl whl b^ sending
1984-85TCrC1°S °n purchas0 of r°lling stock as against Rs. 215 crores in
„T,r,^“;LRrny’
outlays for Iron and Steel have been cut from Rs.],3^0
crores to Rs. 92$ crores, non-ferrous metals from Rs. 777 crores to
Rs. 566 crores, for fertilisers from Rs. 577 crores to Rs. 544 crores
sector and this industry will suffer.The cutback in public sector outlay
will also make many public sector units sick. For instance, the allocation
for Visakh^patnam steel plant has been cut from 652 crores to Rs. 215 crores
though Rs. 1,000 crores should have been provided. This would affetfc the
overall performance of the plant right from the beginning.
The public sector has been primarily responsible for those sectors of the
economy which strenghhen its foundations ; petroleum, fertilisersm steel
and non-ferrous metals. It is this strong foundation which stood the country
m good stead during our march toward self-reliance. It is primarily
because of strong foundations that India is one of the few countries which
came out of IMF loans unscathed.These basic sectors are capital intensive
and do not yield quick results and profits.Even if the public sector re
treats from these areas, it is doubtful whether the Indian private sector
will fill in the vacuum. Multinationals may and if those sectors become
weak, the country self-reliance would be in danger. Perhaps, it is not
an accident that the finance minister did not mention the word of me
self-reliance even once in his extraordinarily long budget speech.
RURAL POOR WILL S'UFFER
The social ii^plications of the cutback in the public sector plan outlay
are no less significant. For instance , in this budget, for the first time
allocatio’ns for anti-poverty programmes have been either frozen or slashed’:
welfare funding of scheduled castes and tribes has been reduced from Rs. i
Rs. 71 crores to Rs. 42 crores, for housing from Rs. 84 crores to Rs.30 crores,
for the Rational Rural Employment Programme from Rs. 2J6 crores to
Rs. 230 crores, for khadi and village industries from Rs.134 crores
to Rs. 113 crores, for self-employment schemes for educated unemployed
youth from Rs. 149 crores to Rs. 65 crores, for desert development
programme from Rs. 10 crores to Rs. 8 crores, for dairy development
programmes from Rs, 90 crores to Rs. 88 crores, for fisheries from
Rs. 36 crores to Rs. 35 crores, and for agricultural financial institutions
from Rs. 29/ crores to Rs. 155 crores. The allocation for rural water
supply has been only nominally incrased from Rs. 293 crores to
Rs. 300 cores and for Integrated Rural Development from Rs. 214 crores
to Rs. 215 crores.
These programmes have reinfoced the Congress(I)’s :rural support base.
Mrs. Gandhi has left behind many liabilities but the biggest asset
she left her son was the solid support base among rural poors, particular Jr
the Harijans. In fact this is the heritage of Gandhiji which the ruling
I
I
- 55'-
party continues to enjoy. But Mr. Pn-iiv
too keen to retain this support* base" At
and economics suggests. In^is camneio'n
»r. Rajiv Gaaihl dii not foS the 5^
t uoes. not appear to be
f thJS 1S what his Politics
i
-loctlo™,
I
I?
-
was also such that did
to middle class professionals
and descendants of the old feudal elite,
mainly from the Thakur caste,
In the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, Congress (i) nominations were given to 81 Thakurs
and in Bihar to 49, which
is far in excess of their —
proportions ox the population. Comination of the
Thakur was reinforced by theJ presence of Mr.
Vishwanath Pratap Singh as
the Pradesli Congrcss(i) chief
and by Mr. Chandra Shekhar Singh~
> the then
chief minister of Bihar.
areas and even the ha°i jans^di ^notffeel ±ali
• GC°]?omic oppression in rural
domination. No wond.^ ^n Li Jh Xr
about this Thakur
domination. No wonder, :*
where Thakurs
Thakurs are
are socially
social 1‘- dominant ’thoron11' anl®?ntrsl Uttar Pradesh,
where
aomxnant^ the^Congressb1; performance in
^f®“x1LOi°Ct4nS
P°°r • In Madhya Pradesh ; '•
and Gujarat, the adverse
gimmlcjc of^he°ros2ia?ion -pSSy/n°Utrali^d th™Ugh thb
of December, ('
,
-, in patriotic fervour over the question
country’s unity, their sectional
interests. Obviously in the assembly elections they
sacrifice sectional interests for a second time. “ were not prepared to
RAHIV LOOKING FOP UHBAii VOTES
perhaps has reassured him that his new apporach is politically vilbJe!’
comJ2-™ 7??-lT^U.the ^°n .Bud8^ would have been different .The
composition
mhn of-h, the
. , party,
. at least ln Parliament and in the Assembly has
changed. The Budget is'
is ai
aimed at buttressing this new support base.
*
* >
The_Budget has reduced the rates of income-tax, wealth tax, scrapped
the CDS and estate duty,, increased the tax-free limits of
■
• P
limit of bonus.
the S°Ut ra±SlnS the tax-free limits of "per^ks^to^oSpany6
executives, i'
the finance minister, perhaps felt guilty about it and he did
not mention the concession in his budget speech, it was quietly introduced
in the finance bill .
r"
• •
Ruction in direct taxes has been justified on the ground that
it will leade to better"tax"compliance^
+.~ 4-tr. n
.
,,
—■’ But there is no conclusive evidence
to this effect. On the other hand, studies by the Institute of Public
Finance show that per.
personal taxation as share of income of the non-agricultural sector has beenL Progressively decreasing ever since the reduction
in rates began 14 years ago. The maximum marginal rate of ’ *
tnv -iv,
t
‘ ....
x caw f personal incometax m this pcnod has5 come
down
from
97-75
per
cent
to
50
per
cent.
come down from 97.75 per cent to 50 per cent.
- 56 India is now among the lowest taxed countries in the world. Yet, there will
be no slow-down in the generation of the black money. Also, Mr. Rajive
Gandhi’s India will share with Mr Reagan’s US the situation where direct
taxes arc not keeping pace with increase in the national income™ "
„ x Similarly, pruning of the public sector is half baked Thatcherism.
Thatcherism.
But®, if all pluses and minuses of the Budget (reduction in direct taxes and
increase in indirect taxes) are taken into account then only those with ix
taxable incomes from non-agricultural sources of Rs.4,000 a month would
benefit. Thus, only half per cent of the population is being pampered at
the espense of the rest of the country. It is for Mr. Rajiv Gandhi to decided
this will bo a politically viable proposition. Also, experience shows that
high taxes cost less votes, whereas development of the right type brings
more votes, more than even a reduction in taxes. Good politics and good
economics can go together under wise leadership.
Source =
Kewal Varma Z P
* ’ -Budget
'
Rajiv
pampers 0.5 % of population
in "The Telegraph", 24th Narch, 1985,, p. 6.
MpH CLASSES GET THE CAKE
The Union Budget for 1985-86 is, by all standards, pro-capitalistic.The
tax concessions and the expenditure allocations indicate the government
would like to favour the corporate sector.lt appears that the Congress(l)
wants to shift the national priority from the public sector to the
private sector.
..• The name of the middle class has been used to camouflage the concessions
to the rich. Salary-earning middle class is going to benefit substantially
by the rationaxlisation of income-tax, enhancement of the exemption limit,
abolition of surcharge and end of compulsory deposit.
... While FICCI asked for the MARTP limit to be^ raised from Rs.20 crores
to Rs. 50 crores, the finance minister has generously raised it to Rs.100
crores. It was a pleasant surprise for the monopoly houses, but a jolt to
others.The corporate sector is the biggest beneficiary.The reduction in
the case of foreign companies is surprising and the message is clear 1 The
doors are open for foreign investment, provided that you corporate .
An element of bad taste has been introduced by reducing the corporate tax
and ximait simultaneously making contributions to political parties
legal. This seems to be a quid pro quo arrangement. They used to argue
that high taxation caused evasion and black money generation. "Look we
will legalise contributions. Don’t evade tax. Transfer the money going
to the consolidated fund of India’ to party funds". This has far reaching
political and social implications....
Source
Dr. G. Thimmaiah1"Rich classes get the cake", in "The Week",
March 31- April 6, 1985, p. 18 and 19*
BUDGET 1985-1986
The Rupee comes from
The Rupee goes to
36 ps
Plan
Other development
expenditure
21 ps
Defence
15 ps
14 ps
Interest payments
Others (transfers to
14 ps
states etc.
ISI DOCUHiEdTaTICK CENTRE, 24 Benson Road, P/B/ '4628, E^^“lore"’5^0 T4F"
Customs 8c Excise
30 ps
Small savings, LIC etc 22 ps
Corporation tax
6 ps
Others (non-tax revenue
’35 ps
loan recoveries etc)
Deficit
6 ps
0^;;- *
^6. 1/
OOOOOOOOCOOOOOOOOOOO’O
°
PRIVATE CIRCULATION
ONLY
0 WEAL KHJRBS .
^oooooooooooooooooooS
y .-f>w
,Q X
tf '
•
Union Carbide has become famous
the world over. What are the com
pany’s records in India and abroad?
What are the implications of the
Bhopal’sjtragedy ? These are the
questions answered in the present
document
CARBItE HAS. A.. HISTORY QF ACCIDIiNIS
As the glare of publicity shone on Union Carbide and the whole chemical^<
industry in the wake of one of the world’s worst industrial catastrophee>
a chilling pattern of corporate selfishness, negligence and criminality"^
wag revealed.
'
Infomed sources within Union Carbide, the U .S -Environmental Protection),)
Agency, the West Virginia Air Pollution Control Commission and the inter
national Chemical Workers Union (ICWU) spoke to the Guardian, seme on the
condition they not be quoted directly or indirectly.
In telephone interviews they revealed a previously undisclosed scandal:
In 1981 the Bhopal factory’s sister Union Carbide plant on the outskirts
of Charleston, the largest city in West Virginia, vented 280 pounds of the
same lethal chemical that poisoned the Indian cily, but in doing so did
not even violate sb much as a country regulation.
Other sources recounted Union Carbide's responsibility for one of the
most horrible cases in occupational health history - the 'nremediatat«H
murder' of some 500 tunnel workers - at Cauley Bridge W.Va?, 50 years ago.
r°^enl U^ion Carbide horr°i’ stories were also mentioned: the
cvet?tually unsuccessful effort to suppress the discovdry that
one of.its major products was a deadly carcinogen, and the reported
£ar0Skfri2
halT?hG workforce at Union Carbide's battery plant
near Jakarta, Indonesia. The Jakarta poisoning so angered the compLy's
£ S?9ia
officer DrJleizar Syafei, that she resigned in protest
Even a U.S .Health, Education rand
J, Welfare Department map implicated Union
Carbide and other Fortune 500 chemical
----------- companies - dupont,Monsanto and
IMC — in the chronic pollution of West Virginia's Kanawha Valley, where
the rate for environmentaily caused cancers of many kinds exceeds national
averages by a
statistically significant ' margin.
Say 11 '\a Unlon Garbide chemical engineer told the Guardian
but this company's track record on concern for people's health is a lot
worse than the Corporate Communication's department iikes to admit
Its
^£d^S
“Si manag®1Gnt fhiik about getting rid of the company motto
Today, something we do will touch your life' - because it might remind.
:
47 people of what happened in Bhopal.
“+hsh+0"ld '> ^n it hAppened^ toard ^oiSteSut ttat his^geS^s^^S
with the overwhelming task of monitoring ' tens o^ thousands^? {oSPq f^f
S mrXdX?T^UtaatS- FOrtUe^
--5^ i^a^tezardous
Long before the Bhopal catastrophe, Union Carbide tad a bad name among
occupational safety and health activists. Part of ttat reputation is a
infaCnP°Tr
described today as ' the greatest short tern occupational
loss of life m the U.S. ' - the silicosis caused deaths of hundreds of
workers during and after a 2 year Union Carbide .tunneling project
1930The tunnel at Gauley bridge wasn’t a very big nroiect- -it irna
.110
diversion start to supply „tjr 4
Kanawha Power Gonpany, m the same valley where Union Carbide's Institute
W. ya
Plant stun stands. What made the tunnel unusual was that iJ tad
to be dug through silical rock.
be worked wot. But Union Carbid's general contractor for the proLt went
out of his way to circumvent the law, with predictable results^ ° *
*
K^awta^lL1' made G.^?eci01 offort t0
tunnelers from outside the
KanawtaJUHey, recruiting a largely black workforce from rural areas of
the South with pronises of high pay. Working conditions were atrocious
When the scandel finally made national news in 1936, after seme 500
tunnelers were dead, it was revealed how cold bloodedly, the operation had
PlQnned- lhe deaths began so soon after men were exposed^o the du-t
that the general contractor took the unusual step of hiring an undertake^
wio agreed to bury all who died on the project for $ 55 a head. When asked
by a congressional investigator 6 years later why he had agreed to such
iouia T1?6’ tn® Un1dertaker replied that the ' company tad assured him there
would be larger number of deaths. '
e
No one was ever sent to jail for what happened in Cauley Bridge, and the
bitterness lingers :
Black lives were cheap, work was hard to come bv it
was premcdiated murder, 'says occupational safety activist Nor n Haynor,’<>r
the New York Committee nn Ononpnt.-innnl,
fety And Health.
- 48 -
‘ So
mX^r^4Uni+On Grb^e'S record haslnt b^n much better. In
IS? , when the Italian toxologist discovered that one of the conreanviq
biggest products, vinyl chloride. was highly carcinoeomV
ohomloal plant porters aal ooosmors of
plastic, Union Carbidets reaction was to suppress the report.
3 .
b0“*.
6 ?
health^a^efOstein“reZled UnSnChrtide-"‘cSlousn^63?01, °h
oast, wrote technical manager BIT .wheeler, it might -lead to serious probe s ... .and force Union Carbide ’ would be seriously hurt by arbitrary
or/p^nic induced government restrictions, t
Truth Emerges
a u°r tho ef Ort tc oppress the bad news began, and after
bmon Carbide has sharply reduced its investment in
vinyl chloride proauction the truth came out •
1?n^ C^rbide is not the only corporate giant that endangers peonle»s
health m tursuit of profit. Tho 0„ti„ K. chaulcli; lEt^X ton.
of air and water borne pollutants into the environment every day^ because
that « usually the cheapest thing to do with them. The ^sSfi oJ S
collective assault on the environment are not as alarming, on a day to day
basis, as what happened in Bhopal, but they are even more deadly in So
long run. When ABC news asked Epstein if he thought n rHanaf
dl
could happen in the U.S. ho rnhlh^ i t
u 4?
disaster like Bhopal
i~Sht: ;eSts
Sr
t*10 ^°St ccnserva'bivc estimate of Harvard Public Health Scheel
toiAte
hiioT^sxa isroomt
0^
avouoblo, but poUtelor - OOUB,a
oM "rSX
00-”“'
o^the'drrect^^etu^n ? the U'S.; 13 One °’" We ClcQrest indi°^ors
. c airect link between disease and environmental pollution P
“s °f
in 197S by the Doporteebt oftalte Bduitta
oonJr
^h5r°P
J fUtetrotoo the eoonootlon tetteoh IMhstry ted
Stre of S“u"s
te T °“
Tf "d I'U
” "«industrial
+ ? '^71, lo
ftunter College associate professor of
environmental health David Kotelchuck describes the ’ Cancer Attas
'Look' says Kotelchuck, 'there aren't any place names on the maps but vou
can easily pick out concentrations of industry. See its not Ponn^vi7
vania that's red, its just Philadelphia, Eric and Pittsburg Look S"
West Virginia here, there's only two red spots, the KanaSbaSy where
there are nine chemical piants including Union Carbide's and thif te
•
tedastrtelited stretch of the Ohio rite?. Its the sSo U^ry wiXer
you look. There's 'Ooteor Mley' - the itlantio r.otet from noteten, to
“ 49 -
w' IS”8.
J
In the face of corporate irrosronaH^-ii -? +
government inaction, what ca^ 1S don^
?S Unjen ^hide's and
strophe and eliminate the steadily rising^tol?other Bhopal cataGxicmical pollution.
y rising toll of disease caused by
The Bhopal disaster could ■orovidr- th«
to protect the health of the Workers -nd
Orna ^^ied movement
coimunity health activist Nicholas
hFb-iC+’’ 33/3
book on connunity action for health and thn In’! JUst Publi^ed
backyards', Freudenberg laid out aenvironment, 'Not in our
movement that understands the role playedfbv th 3 Uni10^ environmental
an idea that is attracting increase? n+t 5 h° corPorato Prorit motive.
He called for ' a miiitaft moXnt th.?th° a"tem^h of Bhopal,
mental assumptions of U.S. capitalism^ n ICS t0 °naP-e^ the fundannalysis of the cause of environrocntnl*rron Vcmea'fc
a coherent
gram for their solution, f
Problcms and with a political pro-
KILLER smog
In the predavni hours of a December morning an >u^Precendented environmental
and tens of thousand^ more
—1 blanketed the sleep—
cSyC;3 SndS- BhOpC1 Gnd thG 7Gar TOS R0t 1348 •
It wag 1952 and the
night by a release
from one plait -"'th^dSrfrlTthTcSlti111
worth of 'norcial' pollution the 1° cur‘ulatlve effect of four day's
factory and automobile in the blwll fh.T
frOt!1 °Very fUmace,
mass of stagnant air. Thev worUh
?• VaXLey caught in a freakish
dustrial catastrophe
G
V1Ct2IIls of the ^st mega - in-
91?MiS^^MuL^s
Lto a charnel house ^sr^Xt^ThZ^Iath^S1^ Indla’ was transformed
industrial catastro^ has ^6ed the
w
a deadly
of
- 50 Bhopal
Many of the victims never awoke.
C"
Others leapt from their beds,
streets, only to be
Others were quick or lucky enough to get out
i
cover they had been pemanentlv blindnd
C1°Ud’ °nly to disthoir oomoas. Those”.”
t“"Si""fe”
space inside- and over flowed into
P ed
111011 of
sonnel were overwhelmed by an influx mln^ti^^r11"5' +I?’edioal Pcr- -
help, so the hospitals quickly^ook on th
gGr than they could
200000 survivors are exnectod to h
hc appearance of morgues. Some
after effects.
to be pemanently disabled by the poisons
Outline, of Explanatjon
and a'tho^nd^Se/SestiS Si SS? SsSrs
^ae
the
greo the gas was methyl isocyanate, a raw material used in pesticide
production. Some medical workers and journalists reported symptoms
suggestive of phosgene poisoning instead, but these reports might have
resulted from uncertainity about the effects of both gases• Both
phosgene and isocyanate were in the plant, so seme of each gas may have
been released.
Tlie plant nonnally converted phosgene into isocyanate and used the
isocyanate^to manufacture the pesticide sevin. Some isocyanate was sold
xo other ctw. plants.
The isocyanate was stored in partly buried, refrigerated tanks. Cooling
was required to keep the liquid isocyanate from approaching its 103
egree Farenheit boiling point. Even cool isocyanate evaporates,
however, and the resulting small quantity of gas was supposed to pass
through scrubbers, which neutralised the vapor.
The disastrous release was triggered, apparently, when for an une»piamed reason the liquid heated up, vaporised and overwhelmed the
capacity of the scrubbers. As the liquid continued to vaporise and
streamed through the scrubber unaffected, it fomed a ground-hugging
cloud that swept across the plant into the adjacent
adjacent neighbourhoods.
neighbourhoods.
The simplest explaination for the rapid heating of the isocyanate de
• t
reactive chemical was contaminated, sotting off a
chTic21 taction. Such a reaction could have generated more
heat than the tank refrigoration system could draw off.
he gas should nevdr
been released, because the scrubbers were designed to neutralise
have bo^Ti Tv*! an
- 51
the tank's entire contents
and
that system had railed a
+
was supposed to burn the
venting g.. and render it relatively ha^eT
«d.ly 4
quoted „„re9B, oM o'
hers had teen stat down "ontutreAlTs
VI lepairs or more than a month. "the two scrub—
,f vapor the flare^owe^failfd6
1We£ “fredundant,
ignite. A supposedly
an-f^+rr system faiied to work; when Hd
redundant safety
was needed, with mind - boggling results.
r
+hheJVnioI1 Carbide,s design and maintenance deficiencies sot the «+-,
eXwy
““
~ e«oX? X.orc
Thc_danger of Union Carbide's quest for profit had not
Qccidenl Wion municipal Administrator
/Buc^re11
When municipal Administrator M IT.
Xforrod
fr“r
“ was
”S Buch
** who
It
?
office. Indian journalist Rajkumar Keswani beean
art;lcles P°int^g out the plant's dangorousness in Septanbjr
r C“?Pj;ny and government officials ignored his rerorts, thf^mlst
recent of which was published last June.
ter charging them with negligence, "when Unio^Garbide hot rd ^Siman
f£SElS-S;gaW£SL
A lot of money is
on the question of whose fault the gassing of.
Bhopal
TT„ •
P was*
... D^liage suits for $ 35 billion have already been filed against
Union Carbide m tile U.S. by’lawyers'' representing survivors and families
of the dead. Additional suits are being contemplated . Union Carbide's
assets are reportedly worth.,; 10.3 billion, its sales in 1983 totalled
Oari
pyoflts were sP 79 million. Company spokesmen insist Union
Carbide is fully insured, but investment analysts have begun discussing
the prospect of bankruptcy.
s
WWffiWOO
§
W
centrE, i
Bangalore - 560*046.
W
If
'I 1 «i
«
.! •
INDIAN SOCIAL JNSTiTUTE./
z.j.i. Wowswteaf' twm, .
Sex 45.?5,
C
jNSTY health ca.
326, V Mein, I Block
■- 560 045.
.
Ko: zmr ng?la
I oro-560034 ■
* tad;
■
>v
APRIL 1935
In this Despatch:
®EIjlCAL_KILLPTGS
Unveil Carbide has become
famous^all ever the world
by now. It b.ns had a series
of accidents. This article
speaks of the company1s records
in India
and abroad,t apart from
.
answering the implications of the
Bhopal tragedy.
r„-----
WIV'S BUDGET; 1985-86 budget is
seen
the policy as
as a departure from tho
far
j.fP0W0d
tllc Congress Party. Is there
anything new ! What are the implications
from the social and political point of view
Wj. i on the bud get
peepers 0.5^ of the
population!
Ihis
?:sj?.rothelbpyHarish
£jrsSethi,
debate between
ruary 1985, further speaks of
groups'.
P
0±
CAPITALIST ?’
ls
r9w
te
to 201 «»
thl
geared in EPW 23, FsbU13 dobatG ^twecn’'party and non-party
Or does it offer a 'socialist model'
with
Chin-jsc characteristics. Looking into
21st century, we should be .
the
aware of what is happening' in
country.
l our neighbouring
o ■0-0-0 y. ‘“9~.C-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-G-0-.C-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
I A dossier
on 1 Mlitarizationf, titled "PROFIT AT CUILPOIMT" ?
5 has been brought
fi-r.aTrri Pv.outJ 05-^tne centre. It is a compilation of T
? articles draw
wr from periodicals, journals and books. The ?
y topics covered
deterrence
theory
S.Wlth nuclear question &?
■
■
i a.u
«s.,
©jjeaKs
» or tiie Na
o industry. Due importance
l
1
<■-». inafm o3
The dossier ends
i aa sulda
guide to
to otta
other PL. iovXX!
6 inclusive
of postage.
Priced at 1j20/-
o
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o~o-o-o~o^o^o-o-o-g~o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-i
COMMUNITY HEALTH CELL
326, V Main, I Block
Koramangala
Bangalore-560034
India
J
SRI LANKA; THREE-PARTY CALL FOR SANTTY
102
- A DOCUMENT -
The Lanka Samasamaja Party, the
'
Communist Party of Sri
Lanka and the Sri Lanka Mahajana PartyJ, in a joint state
ment, supported what they called the rising demand in all
parts of the country for a..
1„.
an immediate
ceasefire by the
.
gr0UpS>
Government and the armed youth
The statement also said that the
'
good offices of any willing party, domestic or foreign should readily be availed
of to bring about such a ceasefire.
The full text of the statement is as follows:-
"The policies of the UNP Government over the past seven
years have already produced irao;j°r crises in our nolitical, economic, cultural and
and social life, its state terroressiv® 1laws
5WS and vindictive measures against polrepressive
itical opponents have encouragedrthe
j j-i*
*
spread of violence
and brutality, m addition to all this
----- the U1P Government has complicated and aggravated ethnic relations to
a point where the unity of Sri Lanka and its peoples has
been placed in serious jeopardy.
Seven years of current UNP rule have seen four major outbursts of racist violence, each far worse than the other, «
Sri Lanka' s good name Nos been besmirched abroad as never
before.
Put despite its public election promises in 1977 and not
XSstar?d^ng lts secret eve-of-poll agreement with the
TULF ana CWC leaders, the UNP Government has not shown any
serious desire to find a just and democratic settlement of
estranged and embittered ethnic relations through politic
al dialogue. Instead, it has followed policies that have
made matters much worse and strengthened racist, divisive
and separatist tendencies.
It dragged on the Round Table Conference for nearly a year
and terminated it abruptly after the. President had presen
ted his own proposals in the form of a draft Parliamentary
xjill. In these proposals, both the suggested devolution
of powers from the Centre and the twist sought to be given
103
to them by creation of a Second Chamber were designed more
to perpetuate the ruling party in power than to find a lasting settlement to the ethnic problem.
As a result,
situation has deteriorated to an extent
that is actually worse than that which existed immediately
after the terrible events of mid-1983
And the most recent pronouncements of the President and important Ministers indicate that the Government has; no political solution
to suggest and does.not immediately •propose to take any
further action to find such a solution.
Widespread and senseless killing, arbitary mass arrests
and detentions, and severe deprivations and hardships for
uninvolved civilian population has become the order of the
day. Civilian authority and democratic institutions’ and
processes have disappeared. Thousands, from all communioies, have been deprived of their normal means of liveli
hood and their freedom of movement, while hundreds more
have become refugees. Members of the Security Services
and the police, most of whom are young men from poor urban
and rurol families have also been exposed to sudden, viol
ent and futile death and injury.
Misusing sections .of the media for the purpose, the Govern
ment has also whipped up a war hysteria on a scale never
witnessed before. As a result, social restraints and dis
cipline break down, good sense is submerged in tribalistic
emotions and attitudes and behaviour are increasingly bru
talised. Anyone who dares to speak of the need for a pol
itical solution of the problem is portrayed as a traitor
or an accomplice of "terrorism".
To make matters worse, a systematic campaign of confront
ation^ and brinkmanship has been unleashed against Indiathereby endangering our own security, disrupting the tra
ditional good neighbour relations that have existed bet
ween our two countries, damaging the nonaligned movement,
and assisting US and other imperialist forces who are
fighting hard to prevent the Indian Ocean becoming a zone
of peace.
On top of all this, our meagre financial resources are be
ing squandered on buying new arms and building up armed
forces at the expense of severe cutbacks in social bene
fits. As a result, our national economy has broken down
in important areas and is being overcome by creeping
paralysis.
104
A sinister development of this situation is that the UN?
Government, in the name of ’fighting terrorism’, has begun
steadily to extend the militarisation that exists in the
north and east to the rest of the country, thereby adding
a new dimension to its concerted efforts to replace demo
cratic institutions with greater authoritarianism and dic
tatorial rule.
This is seen in the creation of new ministries to extend
the ’security’ measures in the public sector to the priv
ate sector as well? the creation of so-called ’defence
committees’ in localities., workplaces and estates where
UNPers are to be given military training, supplied with
arms, and encouraged to spy on political opponents; and the
latest proposals to have UNP MPs select 250\supporters from
each of their electorates who will be given military train
ing, supplied with arms, and settled in selected areas to
form a reserve army of the UNP Government.,
In combination with the special ’commando’ forces that are
now under training (censored) these armed political gangs
can well become an even more formidable danger to democra
tic functioning and political dissent than even the JSS go
on squads in the past. The fact that the government now
speaks of terrorism as a ’southern’ phenomenon as well,
showed that these preparations are intended to be used,
not merely in the north and east, but against the working
class, the trade unions, and all active forms of opposit
ion to UNP misrule.
Our parties appeal to all progressive and democratic for
ces not to be misled by these dangerous actions of the UNP
Government or to respond to its specious appeal for ’non
partisan’ support for these actions. Let us never forget
that, while making such appeals for non-partisanship, the
UNP Government does nothing to alter the policy of revenge
against political opponents that it has ruthlessly follow
ed ever after it returned to office in 1577.
Indeed, experience has shown that the UNP Government is
the principal cause for the manysided crisis in which the
people of our country are now engulfed and the principal
obstacle to any democratic solution or attempted solution
of fchis crisis. The fight for such a solution must there
fore be accompanied by no let-up of the struggle to defeat
and remove the UNP Government.
As far as the ethnic crisis is concerned, our parties have
repeatedly made it clear that we oppose any division of
.105
< Sri Lanka into separate and hostile states. We also opp
ose and regard as counter-productive any efforts to seek
a solution to the ethnic crisis through terrorism, either
by the state or by individuals or political groups.
We firmly believe that the Sinhalese and Tamil peoples,
who have both lived in this country for over two thousand
years and contributed towards its political, social, eco
nomic and cultural progress, can continue to do so in equ
ality, friendship and co-operation. We want the people
of our two major communities, for whom capitalist rulers
see no future other than that of slaughtering each other
in a ’no win’ civil war, to be able to work together,
shoulder to shoulder to end all fojwns of discrimination 9
inequality and oppression, and to build a bright socialist
future for themselves and our common country.
We are convinced that, by opting
‘
for a solution of the
ethnic problem by state force and by militaryr means, ’the
t'
Government has only strengthened separatist tendencies
ond increased the danger that Sri Lanka may become another
Cyprus and Lebanon.
In calling for new initiatives by patriotic and progressiye forces among all nationalities for an agreed political settlement of the ethnic impasse, we emphasise that,
as
approach the end of the 20th Century, experience
confirms
.11-- thatj no newly-free country can stabilise itself
on ■' ’
the assumption that minorities cannot expect anything
more than what a majority is prepared to concede.
Whilereiterating the need to preserve our national soveieignity and territorial integrity, we believe that any
viable political settlement of cur ethnic problem should
be based on the principles of (a) retaining Sri Lanka as
a united country and (b) within this framework, devolving
(and not mere decentralising) substantially many nowcentralised powers and functions to the people of the differ
ent areas of our country, so that they can look after their
own area affairs while co-operating to administer those
powers and functions that should remain centralised. The
experience of many countries, both socialist and otherwise,
has shown that such devolution strengthens, rather than
disrupts, the essential unity of a country. Such unity
can be further secured by a Constitution that guarantees
fundamental and human rights to all citizens alike, by an
administration set-up without ethnic or other discrimina
tion and by scientific national plan for the economic dev
elopment of all areas of the country concerned.
106
1
But before any new efforts can be made in the search for
a political solution, it is essential that the present
senseless killing, looting and destruction of property
should be brought to an end. Our parties therefore welcome
and support the rising demand in all parts of the country
•for an immediate cease fire by the Government and the arm
ed youth groups. The good offices of any willing party
domestic or foreign, should be readily availed of to bring
.about such a cease-fire and arrange the modalities of dir
ect negotiations between the Government of Sri Lanka and
all organised representatives of Tamil opinion, including
those of the armed youth groups.
We also demand that the Government's policy of brinkmanship
towards India should be stopped; that normal good neighbour
relations with the country should be restored;' and that
any problem in these relations should be settled solely
through discussion..
Such actions now can provide the whole country with a res
pite in which to recover our senses and prepare the basis
of a fresh approach to consolidating national unity.
Our parties appeal to all progressive forces to work to
wards a united effort in this direction".
(The statement has been signed by Bernard Soysa, General
Secretary, Lanka Samasamaja Party; K:P. Silva, General
Secretary, Communist Party of Sri Lanka; and Vijaya Kumaranatunga, General Secretary, Sri Lanka Mahajana Party.)
PRIVATE ClRCULATTON ONLY
ISI Documentation Centre
P.B. 4628, Bangalore 560 046
SOURCE = Original text appeared in the
"Lankan Guardian", February 15,1985
It was reproduced in "Mainstream",
April 13,1985, pp.63 & 64, from where
it is taken and preproduced above.
health CELL
'■26’ V MaFn, ( B/
^Ofaman03|a
'°ck
anaa'or0.66oO3
India
Tamil militants units
95
- SRI LANKA attnake on Tamlie in Sri Lunka uro multinlvd.**
multiplying
and becoming mere and more ecvere the 1
™
’n three
.uituat
dcc„ci!1.
-■“
P°^1Ve ,
0\t'1’ielr dl«erences. Unity of the Front has been a
Yet
fi’tr
•and S^11 r°mains very ^agile, and incimplete.
’ ■“f.
re ls any h°Pe of better days for the Tamil
population oi gri Lanka, unity of the militants is a
primordial condition.
URGENT HEED FOR UNITY - THE EELAM QUBSTTOW?
m
tn
history of
militont Tamil groups
OnP of +h° f ronks between the
Tamils' strugglf fS iiberat?^
Wfukest points in th®
between the various revolution WSS the in'fcernecine war
armed struggle os a raeon^
s
acJiefln^heJr1^^
8n
e seperate state, in fact theqp
^eir goal of Eelam,
wed 0„ay thelr t^e aS en«S S.HdS ■8I0Up8 hod
-and scoring points ov^rt^ Su iqUldatlnS one another
gether to flgtlnXO~:ormm": X’
thT«
toces. The rivalries of +I-J
“ the Sinhala armed forideological differences but from SrUPS
nOt stem from
judicies. Though evervbodv r^-P S^01 disPutes and pre
ego problems prfvenS them fS1^3-^6^6^ f°r unii^
ing into the hands of President JeyXenf!
’ thUS I’1°y*
(LTjEpheoded^y’v^^iSbtotoro” TcSUd°f R™11 Eel™
powerful and militant organisation
t0 be the ra9st
nal Liberation Front (ENm +ho+ h fh d the Eelsm N3tioThe LTTE's decisLn came as a SeSL^ +Set^P ° ye3r 0^Eelam because more than mv ' +if eat bo9st to the cause of
always been arrogantly keeping aL^from^h™51^ LTTE thOt
Though in his one nnd
frora the unity moves.
SUNDAY a year ago PirabhLhS®^1^ L date’ Published in
XXX^nXV^X^XfS
--'"X
fbitxsl < LTTE joining the
TL -Sdded 2 new snd significant the
pler in.the history
of the Eelam struggle. The position C^
of'the
''
4?
‘t’-j Sri Lanka Tamils has undoubtedly grown stronger.
DIFFERENCES DO STILL EXIST
96
tl+n+PE?,0-) got together- Though there had been talks ab
out the heed for unity for the last five years, the initiQ^Ve g^hered momentum only after the July holocaust of
+1 hu After nesrly six months of dialogue the leaders of
the ^hree groups joined hands to form the ENLF, Recount
ing the formation of the ENLF, V. Balakumaran, senior ex
ecutive member of EROS told SUNDAY, "When it came to unity
among the Tamil militants, we found so much of interferen
ce by politicians from both sides of the Falk Straits. We
were determined to keep them out because we knew they only
wanted the credit announcing how they had been instrument
al in bringing about unity among the militants so as to
reap political gains for themselves". Soon after the ENLF
was formed there 1were attempts by the members to rope in
the PLOT (the People
pie’s Liberation Organisation for Tamil
Eelam, headed by Uma Maheswaran) and the LTTE,, the two
main militant groups. According
L
-'1-^ to Balakumar, initially
it was easier to approach the PLOT
____than
_ _ the LTTE because
^e impression that they could continue
their battle on their own. Moreover, there was a lot of
rivalry between the TELO and the LTTE because the TELO is
also quite active in the guerilla front. Talks were star
ted with the LTTE primarily because the EROS and the EPRLF
have reasonably cordial relations with the former
COMMON WORKING PROGRAMME: THE THREE PRINCIPLES
The Front has evolved a common working programme based on
three principles to which the four signatories are commit
ted: first, to pursue the strategy of an armed struggle
to achieve liberation, second, to work for the goal of Ee
lam which would be an independent sovereign state and thi
rd, Eelam, as and when it is established, would be a soc
ialist state. Already one notices a semblance of unity
among the disparate Tamil groups since the LTTE joined the
ENLF. Earlier each group would make its own demands lend
ing to a great deal of confusion and obfuscation of the
common goals. As A.S. Balasingham, the official spokesman
of the LTTE, told this correspondent in the course of his
interview], one of the most important requirements as far
as the Sri Lanka Tamils are concerned is the crystallisa
tion of a consensus on a few basic issues. The Front hopes
97
to embody the consensus of the Tamils of the island, it
hopes to represent the united aspirations of the Tamils> as
a whole and it hopes to be recognised as the official body
of the Tamils by both Colombo and Delhi.
Top of the list of the Front’s ;
priorities is raising the
issue of the Tamils’ right to self-determination.'
-- - --- . The
Tamils seek to gain political independence on the basis of
this right which has been recognised by international bodies like the United Nations, This point has to be cogently got across to the world so that people do not equate the
Eelam struggle with separatist ? secessionist movement.
The second objective of the Front is to evolve a plan for
common military action, to mobilise manpower and material
power and direct it against the enemy forces.
The Front
feels that agreements can come from thes Sinhala side only
if military points are scored against them. Initially the
groups would continue with their guerilla operations, tho
ugh they would pool their resources if required. Ultimat
ely they will undertake joint operations. SUNDAY learns
that one of the military strategies worked out by the
groups is undertaking of simultaneous operations in diff
erent parts of the traditional Tamil homelands. At the
moment the entire Sri Lankan armed forces are concentrated
in Jaffna because that is the nervecentre of guerilla act
ivity. The militants feel that one way of overpowering
the Sinhala armed forces is to attack them in different
places at the same time. To'tackle this problem the arm
ed forces would have to be dispersed, making it easier for
the militants to wreak greater damage to them. Obviously
such a situation could only provoke the Sri Lanka govern
ment to get help from outside. Asked what the militants
would do if Sri Lanka succeeded in getting help from out
side, Balakumar said, .’’Then it would give India a locus
standi to intervene”. The third objective of the Front
is to break the back of Sri Lanka’s economy. This would
be a two-pronged approach: one to affect tourism and the
other to cripple the plantation industry. Tourism would
be affected by guerilla activities in Colombo. Ever since
July 1983? there has been a drastic fall in the flow of
tourists to Sri Lanka. The EROS had already done a lot of
damage to Sri Lanka’s tourism with its activities in Col
ombo, one of the most sensational being the bomb blast in
hotel Lanka Oberoi. The plantation industry will be cripp
led by engineering strikes. Sri Lanka’s economy rests on
its export of tea. An overwhelming majority of the workers
in the tea estates are Tamils of Indian origin who live in
apalling conditions. The leader of the Ceylon Workers
Congress, Mr. Thondaman, has been given a ministerial ber
th in Mr. Jayewardene’s cabinet just to appease him and
the workers whom he represents. The Tamil militants will
chalk out a way to unionise the workers and polarise them
into a rival union and then provoke a strike. A month-
98
long strike in the plantations can humble the Jayewardene
government, feels Balakumar. He added, ’’Any solution we
seek must include the plantation Tamils, Oih erwise there
will be no lasting peace”.
Why bid the LTTE, which had maintained a distance from the
other groups suddenly join the Front? In an interview to
SUNDAY_Mr. Balasinghara, ‘the
ulig ui.-ixuraj.
official spoKesman
spokesman or
of LTTE ex
plained, ” Military ^struggle became imperative as diplomatic and
. . political
- ? "
-efforts proved a total failure.When
military struggle became elevated from ’one of the means
to achieve liberation’, unity became imperative. Second,
we are reaching a critical stage of our struggle. We are
on the brink of annihilation. Unity among the fighting
forces is now of paramount importance. Third, we'united
because of the great pressure we were being subjected to
from the people of the Tamil Eelam and the expatriates.
Fourth, we need a common politico military strategy. At
present there is a lot of confusion about the demands of
the Tamils because each group puts across its ideas and
aspirations in a different way. Unity became important
because a (consensus
---’has to
' 'be established for an unitary
demand: liberation of ^elam., Iff
Fifi L,
h, disunity has been the
biggest weakness of the Eelam liberation :movement. We realise that we need a firm foundation based on unity”, The
other members of the Front, w.
’
’ “ why they felt the
when
asked
LTTE had decided tu join them,i, itold 171
SUNDAY that they believed
, . it . was primarily
- - due
-- to the three reasons: the real
isation in the LTTE that they cannot take on the Sri Lan
kan security forces on their own. The mounting pressure
from expatriates who are their main source of funds, the
expatriates felt time was running out and that the process
of liberation should be hastened. The groups joined hands
due to internal pressures too. Apparently there was a
growing rift in the LTTE between two sections - the ’’pro
gressives” and the ’’hardliners”. The hardliners believed
that they should stick to their guerilla operations and
have no truck with anyone. The progressives, who were beg
inning to get more support within the organisation, belie
ved that while not diluting the identity of the LTTE, the
organisation should be a little more broadbased to incor
porate
full-fledged political wing. Also they felt that
unity should be forged to hasten the process of liberation.
The progressives won.
WILL "PLOT" JOIN THE FRONT?
Like its guerilla operations, the
'
LTTE’s decision to join
the Front was sudden and well-timed.* Characteristically,
In fact
directed against its arch-rival the PLOT.
g^toxs?
Kt "ouia
The
girfcU ?.%ToSritlo.ni^irtso.^?s"
b:J“aen thi3 ne“0x13 •*> ’he
Z "tSK JaotlofJ ”’'8- I" f«t. »bout elx moK
ago, talks between the ENLF and PLOT had been ■oroerp^-iw
. ™ very promising linos end an ellionoe soiVLSt?®
The talks, however, broke down because PLOT refused to shrug off The
its Prrmi
back
TE+A ^^4.Tomil EelQm Liberation
Army)
.
To
-e Erorrt hid not want to include the TELA because
it
s c^sidered to be an unprofessional group and in any
quarrels bltwlene+9f dis?;nteSxotion due to the internecine
whom Sfim ^ hp
mein?exs’ R°jan ond Senthil, both of
-crfbble for iSh eJe°w le£3der °f TELA’
The internal
was killed bv th eq- nh X 6 °Ut Wiien its leader> Castro,
Q„S 2 11 d, bymthe Sinhalese Army recently. Due to the
them ft iLTh f6 I'ront wished to have no truck with
them. But Uma Maheshwaran was not agreeable. He insisted
bf
+fg+TA heSded by Senthil* ' The rxont members
®^ed+that Jp W8S keen t0 have Senthil with him to make
+1
stronser in ihe Front. The PLOT faded out
and the LTTE moved in.
Asked why PLOT was left out, Bulasirignam
Balasingham explained, "Uma
(Maheshwaran) was left out because he is
-j very critical of
the armed struggle that we carry on. His argument is that
the masses should be mobilised ■'toraise a national army to
wage a conventional wa'r. He disapproves of cour 'hit-andrun’ tactics because it provokes retaliation.
So, there
So,
15 0 fundamental contradiction between ours and Uma Mah
eshwaran' s military strategy, it is impossible to raise
a conventional army and have a one-day war. We believe
hat guerilla warfare will slowly become broad-based to
blossom into a people's war. What Uma wants is desirable
u not practical. v/e hope Uma will soon accept our strategy and then we will negotiate. All of us are keen to
n^V+wthmr.?n0? ?ls0 in the Front"- Sri Sabaratnam, leader
of the TELO told SUNDAY that one of the immediate prioritItVlrtT rro1nt1w°uld be t9 r°Pe in the PLOT. Balakumar
sai|a phOT was likely to join in the end because they could
not but respond to the people's popular demand. But any
other group that wishes to join the Front would hove to
dissolve its identity and join one of the five (if PLOT
is included) organisations of the Front, said Balakumar.
100
inem^rs of the Front Qre ambivalent about including the
TULF. There is a feeling among them that the TULF is ob
solete in the struggle for Eelam. The militants are cont
emptuous and resentful of the TULF: contempt because the
TULF members live in the safety of Madras abandoning the
Tamils to their fate while the militants are in the battle
niSfL saci'ificing th6ir lives, and resentment because the
1ULJ? is still recognised as the official representative cf
he oppressed Tamils by India and the world at large
The
militants suspect that the TULF has been softening towards
them and making overtures only because Delhi and Colombo
have demanded that they„ must
--- have
--- the support of the peop
le and the militants.
--- . Said Balakumar, "Amirthalingam is
an opportunist. V/e have no faith in him”.
The ENLF was formed a year ago. Has the formation of theFront really helped its three original members9* "Definitely”, says Balakumar, ”one y
- of the
”
year
Front has helped us
enormously. We have a committee- where
) our people thrash
out problems. When people see this kind of unity they are
more forthcoming in their support,» More and more people
are joining us. Secondly, we no longer waste time and effort liquidating each other, A very healthy situation has
been promoted by our unity, Third, we have formed a base
for
ror the future.
iuture.. Fourth
Fourth, we have formed a military command
to undertake joint military operations as each group con
ducts its operations independently. But whereever possible
we help our comrades. When an operation is to be under
taken we issue warnings to our supporters so that they are
nowhere near the scene - this is to prevent their capture
by the security forces”.
The.newfound>camaraderie has undoubtedly strengthened the
position of the suffering Tamils. Achieving unity was
difficult; maintaining it will be even more so. A possible
repercussion to this unity, which would be disastrous, is
the formation of a rival front by the PLOT, the TULF and
a few other smaller groups. In such an eventuality the
militants would be back to square one - or probably even
worse. However, the ENLF appears to be confident of ind
ucting the PLOT soon.
The Front is also grappling with the problem of how to
seek official recognition from India and other countries
as being the true representatives of the Tamil-s of Sri
Lanka. In the final analysis the LTTE joining the Front
has not only caught the Sri Lankan government unawares
but seems to have distressed it considerably. The ^hreat
of the combined might of the militants has touched a raw
nerve. Reaction was swift and intense with Mr. Jayewardone
t
hinting to the British Prime Minister Mrs Thatcher in.t J01
day later at a public function to either stat?or
troops or ot lMst loon then to TlSt ogolnS ter«rl4
lU»PIihrj™u"SHS^ DhSpit? their internecine rivo!’"o^th*"? <4
»0>«t<n»e2nlwejL
ISI DOCUMEKTATIOK CEHTRE
P.B. 4628, Bangalore 560 046
Source
in
Anita Pratap, "Tamil Militants
unite
a special Report,
Sunday 2d April- 4 May, pp. 46 to 4-9
PRIVATE CIl'iCULATIC'N ORLY.
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India
THIS TBCHNOLOC-Y AND THIS SCENARIO'
--- - - , , •
88
The author of this article,Dr. G.N. Soetharam, Member of
Faculty, Administrative Staff College of India,Hyderabad,
argues that there are two ways of ending poverty
l)a
revolutionary but qualitative shift in the mode of
production which may end a pluralistic society and 2) an
evolutionary but qualitative shift in the mode of development
by mailing it more responsive to the needs of the poor.To a
certain extent catering to the needs of the poor is in the
interest of the preservation of the system itself.Even such a c
a shift will require a shift of technological focus. The
implications are examined.
This article is taken from Yojana, January 26,1985,pp. 16 to 18
TECHNOLOGY ~__^AT^TT JVIEANS9
By technology we mean the application of Science into the
P50Ce^s.0^ Deduction, in other words it is the relationSPteohnol^n?UtS
°Pputs- For most
human histTechnology m spite of occasional revolutionary leaps
was static, it is only after the advent of
of the
the industrial
industrial
ing°fo-cen S technology has become a dynamic transform-nnfi? \ After the second World War the impact of tech
nology on human lives and the production -orocess has become
much greater. There has been an organic ^alflcencf bet
ween science and technology leading to the worldwide
SpaP+YLY th+ scientific technological revolution, Between the -laboratory and the factory or the farm the time
taken for transfer of technology is very short, We are
now practically living in a revolutionary age, i.e., the
technotronic age. The 'future shock' of Alvin Toffler
is
coming true. Communications are
a - expanding and intensifyinS- There has been a dialectical leap- in
the
’
’ i of growth
technology.in other words the technological
'
revolution is
becoming, a permanent revolution.
--- We are to a certain ex
ent the children of our age and in substantial measure
technology is determining our consciousness.
THIS DEVELOPMENT MODEL!
However important it may be,9 tbchnolcgy represents one seg
ment of the dimensions of progress. Technology exists and
thrives in a certain social framework and the human welfare
implications of technology are determined substantially,
if not in full measure, by the framework. Technology re
presents the productive forces whereas the production rel
ations are determined by the social framework. ■ ^'heje is
a dialectical interaction between the production forces and
89
productive relations leading to progress, albeit by zig
zags. Of course there may come revolutionary leaps in
technology which may question the very raison d’etre of
a basically evolutionary framework leading to a historic
ally rupture of thp framewo.rk itself. But generally tech
nological determinism is not the rule though neither is
technological nihilism. So let us give the broad contours
of the Indian model of development so that an understand
ing of the backdrop for technological change is achieved.
The "Indian model of development” is unique in the entire
third world. It rests on a pluralistic political founda
tion with various social classes and strata making their
impact felt through universal franchise. The economy is
guided by the "mixed economy" model where a strong public
sector controlling the commanding heights co-exists with
one of the strongest private sectors- inthe third world.
Of course there is evidence that the fundamental laws of
a motion of society are based on private property and hence
the laws of the market place and capitalist development
make themselves felt. During the 37 years or so of ind
ependent development India has grown at a.V’hindu” rate
of growth of about 3.5 per cent per annum. But yet bet
ween 2/5ths to half the population lives in conditions
of absolute poverty. $till there is no large scale quest tioning of the formational model.
Through the tactic of
social compromise and reform the Indian elite has^by and
large defused social tensions, This is undoubtedly what
it can be proud of.
AND LET'S FACE IT!
1
O'
Now it -is known that human welfare in terms of a set of
social indicators or income distribution pattern is to a
large extent dependent on the model and
snd dynamics of a cer
tain model of development rather than by mere technologic
al forces, for example - in China, Cuba and other count
ries basic human needs seem to be met though the absolute
level of technology is low. On the other hand in advan
ced countries like the U.S. in spite of very high techno
logical levels there are people, albeit a small fringe
minority, living in poverty. So human welfare seems to be
to a certain extent independent of technological dynamics.
Of course, it has to be kept in mind that the political
choicer available even to the poor in the American society
are not available to the people in communist countries.
*
o
One of the jokes which makes rounds in Moscow runs-thne..
90
c K3n "O1'£ed up t0 the resident of tS s!Xt
showed him a pumpkin and said, "Sir kindly select a ' ■ Union,
”.
The President replied "You fool how can I select a pumpkin
:
pumpkin
when all you are offering iE one pumpkin"
ThTX’
man,
SU LP'°hSnt resPonded ~
Comrade doA't ? "elect^yoJ
even though you are the only candidate in the "emotions"?
So if on the whole human welfare meaqurpd in
tifltml"suir"heJ°«hotlndehendent,0f teohnoloBy in substoiindlo"3"6,1 obvl'’uslS' lies In^he^oelaTsysSm^o^Jn °°?
Uli _p+M whereas the poor either sink to lower depths or
are left untouched. Of course therp
on+1
ep™s or
grames but they do not toeK’tJo“oo^oj
and are merely treating the symptom.
‘ ' prot>J-em
be'honr
n8t;;e of the ”10del of ■ioveloprcent con
ope, by playing with a cocktail of technologies to
alleviate human misery in this country? m my Sew’th!
view is utopian. Fundamental shifts in the nature of tech
realfgnmen^oUth COnnot1tsk? Place ^hout a fundamental
realignment of the social and political force configuration
nkaueUwill^JU PeriPhe\01 Ganges in the choice of tech
mode of liL- nJ
Singes in the standard and
Jot % LiU +g* .In2^er W9rds’ technological choice, is
a key determinant to poverty eradication. Poverty er
adication is a question of political economy, a question
polVn1CsP ^111 to bring about a qualitative shift in
IndiJUU of.development. The model of development as in
India today is not conducive to a revolutionary sweep of ■
poverty, ^ut even within the framework alternative approa
ches are possible.
THE ALTERNATIVES9 THEIR IMPACT!
By the end of the 70s hectic: discussions and seminars were
held, in India and abroad on •the priorities of development,
The Nehru Mahalanobis model or the Indian strategy of development came under fire tsince
*_
it was not in a position to
solve the basic economic questions- which
1-1-11 stood before the •
Indian people, Poverty grew and unemployment was not liquidated. All this led
1-1 to
'-j a strengthening of the influence
91
of a school of intellectuals who searched for s solution
to the economic problems of India outside the Mehxu-Mahalanobis strategy. These discussions and debates got a
strong push during the Janata party regime. Undoubtedly 9
the Jebate will have an international implication and is
likely to influence thinking on the subject.
This debate was not confined to India’s boundaries.
In
Infact the entire developing world were engulfed in the debate. The various U.N. Organisations and also the World
Bank took a keen ini&rest in the debate.
----- . This facilitates
us to make an inference that probably the debate reflected
the developmental processes of the third world countries
for the past 15-20 years and they -almost simultaneously
came to the state of development which was not very dis
similar to the stage of development which India was in.
The questions which are debated are significant from the
point of view of economic history. Other large countries
like USSR? USA, France and England had international sit- .
nations and also independence on their socio-economic sy
stems. The correctness of the answer which the Indian
bourgeois gave 25 years ago was put under doubt during the
course of the discussion. Here we shall critically anal
yse the main arguments of the various parties. Naturally,
the dis.ussion was general, strategic and engulfed the
direction of the development of the country in general.
A CLOSER LOOK..’
The Nehru-Mahalanobis model was prepared under the influ
ence of the feldman model which was worked out in the Gosplan in the 1920s. The essence of the model was an hypo
thesis the priority investments in heavy industry was pre
condition for high growth rates in the long run. This an
alysis was based on the Marxian theory of reproduction.
The fundamental position of the author was that ceteris
paribus the potential growth rate would be higher in corr
espondence with the investment in the creation of capacit
ies in heavy industry. In the 50s and 60s bourgeois eco
nomic literature was dominated by an axiom that with a
sufficient growth in production the problems of distrib
ution will be automatically solved.
Affluence of a few
was seen as a sine qua non for savings which after being
translated into investments must result in growth or as
Mahbubul Haq put it in 1963 "the road to eventual equality
possibly lies through initial inequalities".
92
At the end of the 60s and the beginning of the 70s it be
came obvious.that a large part of the population in devel
oping countries of a capitalist orientation did not gain
?oni such a strategy , of development. At the beginning of
re 70s almost a billion people were living under cnndit-'
ions oi absolute poverty. Having this in view at the beg
inning of the 70s new approaches were made to economic de
veloping underlying "Grassroot growth", "Participation"
and "Employment orientation". Also"the basis need strat
egy". The appearance of these approaches is considerably
facilitated by the fact that the more far seeking scholars ■
understood that in the absence of reform class struggle
would have been intensified. The summit session of the
non-aligned countries accepted a Resolution appealing to
"Liquidate unemployment and poverty" through the realis
ation of political reforms and "satisfaction of basis needs".
THIS BASIC NEEDS STRATEGY!
The basic.needs strategy was proposed by the International
organisation ol labour at the Conference on employment
(1976). This approach was also supported by the Internat
ional Bank for Re-construction and Development, and also
the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development.
This strategy emphasises that satisfaction of basic needs"
□ vj a final aim of development and creation of employment
as a means for the satisfaction of basic needs. So the
accent was on finding a solution to the problems of absol
ute poverty through increase in employment.. According to
this strategy the purpose of the plan was to be indicated
in such directions as health, education, etc., which has
immediate implications for human life. In other words,
the criteria of investment in this approach is the improve
ment of the quality of life.
The strategy underlines the consumption of goods and ser
vices necessary fcr the satisfaction of basic needs’ Ed
win Martin, the Chairman of the IBRD - Committee on'the
Committee on the Question of Grain Production in Develop
ing Countries put the question thus "Increase in incomes
of the poor is necessary. Programmes of redistribution
are promising in these countries but the emphasis is on
using labour incentive technology in all economic sectors.
Having in view the labour surplus a higher growth of the
gross National Product would firstly help those who are
suffering most from starvation". She World conference
on employment declared as a fundamental principle "strat
egies and plans of national development must include as
95
an important objective increase in employment and satisfac
tion of basic needs of the population". Also, a vr-* m of
20 economists headed by Jan—Tinbergen in its report to
the ’club of Rome' appealed for global conciliation between
the rich i.e., developed capitalist countries and the poor
i.e., third Worid countries, for achieving the following
objectives oy the end of the century:
(i) Continuity of life 65 years or more
(ii) Literacy 75 per cent as a minimum; and
(iii) Coefficient of birth less than 25/1000.
This group considers that for achieving the above objectives there is need for faid! to the extent of 15-20 billion
dollars annually for developing
~ countries
—3 in the west aud
Japan.
Also,' it' was underlined
that the object of econom.
- -------- -----ic development was not in growth of G-NP but in the growth
otf human welfare,
- * This, in my opinion, is quite a correct
assessment, it being testified by the experience of Kerala
where the left democratic government was in power for a
long time.
A PESSIMISTIC S ISNARTO!
Unless we adopt a new strategy aimed at strengthening and
reorienting^the Public Sector with emphasis on labour int
ensive and frontier areas as also develop technologies for
dry land farming and the informal sector in addit ton to
skill development in the Cottage industries the scenerib
at the moment is weak. According to present estimates ab
out 500 million people will be under the poverty line by
the end of the century.
There are only two ways of ending poverty - (i) a revolut
ionary qualitative shift in the mode of production which
may end a pluralistic society and (ii) an evolutionary but
qualitative shift in the model of development by making it
more responsive to the needs of the poor. To a certain ex
tent catering to the needs of the poor is in the interests
of the preservation of the system itself.
Even such a
shift will require a shift of the technological focus to
cottage industries, dry land agriculture etc. A total re
turn to labour intensive methods is neither possible and
is anyway utopian. The need of the hour is a cocktail of
94
technologies which will maximise employment and minimise
poverty without fully sacrificing the objective of growth.
The public sector could become the locomotive in such a
reorientation of strategy.
But,
But, within the present contours it is difficult to forsee such a change. The alternative is one of secular stagnation of the needs of the
poor. The scenario is not optimistic.
SOURCE
Dr. G.N. Seetharam, ’’* This technology and this scenario”
in Yojana, January 26,1985,, pp. 16 to 18
When a technology is transferred we refer only to the Technology Package.
Every,Technology Package implies availability of a certain level of skills,
both technical and organisational,that are available to the user.
If there is a mismatch between the technology package and the user’s
skills, the technology will fail. The Technology package is like
a school textbook* a fifth standard boy can make little sense
from the 8th standard book. So the different technologies can be
arranged according to the level of skills presumed available to
the user.This grading can be considered as a Technological Ladder.
Every user,whether an individual, an organisation or a society/
community can benefit by technologies that match his/their skills.
After he uses those for some period, his level of skills rises and
he can tjien reach for higher technology, but not before.
When wo make public a technology, such as the use of high yielding
varieties of wheat and rice, only farmers with a certain level of
skills benefit by it. Others will end up in disaster, even if the
government arranges for all the financial inputs. Thus the green
revolution benefited farmers who were already familiar with some
modern practices and the loss skilled ,usually the poor, were
left high and dry.
(Source = S.S. Kalbagh,"Learning to own
Technology”, Yojana, January 26,1985*
ft
More than 70 per cent of the rural population is illiterate,
and 93 per cent have no skills to enable them to pursue any profession
other
i than that of primitive
farming, or of an unskilled
manual labourer.
.... he utilisation of our agricultural assets is at present
no mor< than 30 per cent of its potential or capacity,
( Bhanu Pratap Si^gh,”Betrayal of Rural India”
in "Indian Express, May 22,1985, P- 8
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78
whyjtot now demystify this
TECHNOLOGY!
<
*
<
INTRODUCTION
"Good understanding of the existing condit
ions in rural India and psyche of its poor
is the pre-requisite to achieving breakth
rough in the sphere of - technology transfer,
argues the author and narrates, in detail. ?
■ all that happens when the so-called experts
plan their strategies living away from the
scene.. He examines here the UNICEF design
ed 3-tier system, "adopted without much
thought” by all State Governments, for pro
viding drinking water to problem villages.
The real answer to the problem, he asserts,
is his Hand Pump Mistri and not what is be
ing tried to be sold".
I
I wish we were a bit more balanced and open over this iss
ue of technology transfer for the rural poor. This word
’technology’ has come to mean many things to many people.
What we associate with this word today is either irrelev
ant or unrelated to solving the problems of the rural poor.
With our extremely limited exposure to the actual real life,
immediate and urgent problems of the poor if we are not
pontificating on what technological options are available
for the rural poor we are doing the next worst thing of
thrusting it down their throats thus impoverishing him more
in the process.
U,rge invisible. This has happened because we have
had to take someone else's word for it. v/e are told to
hink our technologist is better educated, more widely read,
ostensibly more knowledgeable, more exposed to scientific
so he should know what is good for the poor, what
practices the poor should adopt, how and why they should
keep silent and take whats coming and any voice raised ag
ainst it smacks of ingratitude. If and when the people
should come up with a counter-idea that exposes the faults
Ind TmmNOtl°nS+U ° system thought of by so-called experts
and UN-types sitting m air-conditioned offices this is
•not playing crikket.
79
A^SIT GOES IN WASTE AN
The State of Rajasthan has 33?3O5 populated villages out
of which 24,037 were identified as problem villages as far
back as 1981. A problem village is defined as (i) which
does not have an assured source of drinking water within
1.6 kms or within a depth of 15m5 in case of hilly region
within a vertical height of 100 metres, (ii) where the
source of water is susceptible to water borne diseases
like cholera and guinea worms and (iii) where water has
excessive salinity, iron or flourides. In 1981 more than
20,000 hand pumps had been installed and more than 50%
were out of action for want of proper maintenance. By
1984 more than 40,000 hand pumps were expected to be inst
alled. What arrangements had the Government made to rep
air and maintain these pumps?
What was in operation at that time was a UNICEF designed
3-tier system adopted without much thought by all State
Governments in a conference in Madurai (Tamil Nadu) in
1979. What made it far easier was the fact that UNICEF
agreed to provide equipment, jeeps, trucks, training mat
erials and cover costs of training everyone from the top
to the
■c’-- bottom.
The system they agreed to was as follows:
This ’3-tier! system!
1. Tier One
A district mobile maintenance team (one
team for every 500/600 hand pumps) consis
ting of 5 men (driver, mechanic, two hel
pers, mason) who work under the supervis
ion of a Junior Engineer. This team is
supposed to do minor and major repairs.
2. Tier Two
The Block level mechanic from the Public
Health Engineering Department (PHED)! His
duty is to regularly check 50 hand pumps
and carry out minor repairs above the gr
ound. If and when the hand pump assembly
has to be taken out he has to summon the
district maintenance unit. He has no tran
sport provided to him.
3. Tier Three:
The village level hand pump caretaker. The
buck stops here. He is selected by the
government. He works free of charge. The
other name for it is shramdan. He is trai
ned for 2 days. He is given some spanners
to keep the nuts and bolts tight. He is
supposed to keep the foundation clean and
80
give some health edu 'etion.: No more no
less. If anything more happens to the
pump he is supposed to send a postcard.
AND ITS PITFALLS!
It is immediately evident that the 3 tier system has been
designed by 'experts' who have never lived and worked in
«T
Js 1Pe 1tTi11Ve
y hsWlthout
’ei t0?water
e surefor
-nevei
"wtoM A
months just because
the hand pump is out of order for want of a simple leather
washer. Since Tier One and Tier Two is not ansSeraWe to
ees themfPtyth®rUSe P®7 °re Permanent government employ
ees the fact that pumps have remained out of order for mon
ths has not bothered them the least. To odd insult to in
jury the community was told that the government owned the
pump. The community had no stake in the hand pumo and the
g vernment made it clear that the pump was government pro-
thSy;heTmS
in
3 Ti“
ne"
ther the Block Mechanic nor the District Maintenance team
will ailow the community to take their own initiative and
get the pump repaired by someone in the village. Whv9
Because the person is not trained.
THE HPM IS BORN
These were some of the issues that were responsible for
the birth of the Hand Pump Mistri (HPM). The idea grew
out of a discussion in a village tea shop, He saw the
district maintenance team driving past in a fancy truck
donated by UNICEF and said, "All for a washer in” a hand
pump. Is'nt it too stupid for words? We have way side
machine shops in villages repairing tractors, diesel and
electric pumps, bullock carts and agricultural machinery
Most of them do not have degrees, diplomas or are even
literate. And the government thinks we are incapable of
changing a washer 100 ft. below the ground. It is just
another way of wasting money". He could not have put acr
oss the point better. There is a vested interest in mak
ing simple issues look complicated, easy solutions look
expensive and practical ideas look as if it has taken a
great deal of research and field testing to think out.
81
We realised it is too vast a problem to be left to the eng
ineers and experts alone. By far the most serious flaw in
the 3 Tier System is the marginal and cosmetic involvement
of the community which actually uses the pump. The ’exp
erts’ have come up with a caretaker who is normally an un
paid youth doing something else for a living. For major
repairs he corresponds with’ the district maintenance unit
by a system of postcards where even the postage stamp is
supplied by the Government/UNICEF because he is supposed
to .be so poor.
AND THE JOB HE DID!
In 1981 Tilonia trained semi-literate rural youths under
TRYSEM^ to repair and maintain the 200 hand pumps installed
for scheduled castes with
assistance
'
J of from the Ministry
Home Affairs, jArter 3 months training they were placed
on the field with startling results:
1. They were in a position to carry out 90% of the minor
, and major jobs on the hand pump above and below ground.
2. The community was willing to pay between Rs.40-100 to
g get their pumps repaired and offer manual labour when
needed.
3. A trained mechanic or degree holder in mechanical engineering was not required to repair hand pumps, A
semi-literate village youth could do the same job,, perform the same function as the caretaker, the block mech
anic and the District Maintenance team without leaving
the village given the proper training and the right set
of tools.
4. Jeeps and trucks were not necessary for repair and maint
enance. The same job could be done on a cycle.
5. The HPM was answerable to the community. He was identifiable in flesh and blood. He
H was not a government
servant and only working parttime in repairing and mai
ntaining hand pumps. Eor which as, a- professional he
deserved to be paid.
6. It was cheaper to maintain.
Once this experiment was conducted we went to the State
Government of Rajasthan with the results with the hope
that they study it and possibly replicate*it elsewhere.
To the credit of the State Government where the political 82
will of the Chief Minister played a significant part the
following decisions were taken:
■
(a) The repair and maintenance or
of rne
the hand
hand pump will be ‘
the responsibility of- the
—) community and not the PHED*
(b) A rural youth with some^mechanical background will be
selected by the community and ■
' ’
months under
under TRYSEM.
TRYSEM. After training he wllFbe oppoLmonths
vSCL QS
'>
.
/
a Hand ■rPump
Mistri
(HPM).
(c) The HPM will not be a government employee. He will
be answerable to the community that selects him. The
employment will be part time.
(d) The.HPFI will look after 36-?4D . iahd pumps within a
radius of 5 k~!3 from his village.
(e) The State Government will pay fe. 150/ hand pumo per
year with Rs. 50/ hand pump per year included for’spare
parts. After training the HPM will get a grunt of
Rs. 250/ for tools from the Government as per TRYSEM
rules. For a set of special tools which he will need
for below ground repairs costing Rs. 2,500 he will get
a subsidy (5058) if he is a Scheduled Caste/Scheduled
Tribe when he gets a hank loan.
THE VITAL STATISTICS!
May 1984 a total of 37?151 hand pumps have been inst2.
over Rajasthan. The State Government estimated
thst a total of 1?175 HPMs needed to be trained through
Industrial Training Instutes and voluntary agencies like
Tilonb. In^varying
I
Tilonfc.
degrees of competence 886 HPMs have
been trained
and placed
in various- districts.
I__ many
,, ,
------- - In
areas it has not been working smoothly because of poor or
no understanding of the whole idea of the HPM.
It does not help when we go into the background of most
of the HPMs. What is so extraordinary about them is that
they are so ordinary. The profile of 71 HPMs placed in
Ajmer District for instance should give some idea how easy
it is to find such people all over India:
84
Socio-economic
3 Tier System
1«Cost/hand pump/
year
&.4OO-5OO/h.p./
year
av*
ITier System
rRs. 150/kup./year
Rs.50 included for
spare parts
.v
2.Tools & Equipment
Trucks,jeeps,trail-Cycle,special - —e? 3, heavy repair
tools
equipment,special
tools
»'■ •*** «*«»
• •Li*
.ua •—
*••• **
••
•
•»-*
••
•-
-r- . — r T |[
,
3.Educational
Qualifications
Mechanical degree
holder, Diploma,
ITIs.
4.Personnel
Addl.Chief Engin- HPM at the villeer, Supd.Engineer, age level.
Executive Engineer,
Asst, Engineer, Block
mechanics,Caretak
ers, lower staff.
• •
5.Training
No long term train-3 months training
ing programme at
under TRYSEM: one
any level. Short
month theoretical,.
term orientation
2 months practical
courses for engin
eers, 2 days for
caretakers.
60Community parti
cipation
Marginal; at the
HPM identified by
care taker’s level the community:
only: not answer priority given to
able to the comm SC/STs living be
unity .
low the poverty
line.
7.Community accoun-
None., Answerable
The users have the
only to govern
right to recall
ment (Tier 1&2)
K the HPM and send
-someone else if
his work is poor.
Sarpanch counter
signs work done
then only HPM can
get amount from EDO
4th-10th standard
pass;' Primary
school.
85
8.Community
resources
None
9.Institutional
Finance:
No provision.
HPM takes a loan from
Tools are given nearest bank for spec
ial tools worth Rs25OO.
50% subsidy for SC/ST.
The use of village re
sources, knowledge and
skills are total.
AND THE PROBLEMS!
1. The One Tier System is not without problems. By far
the biggest threat to the idea not working on the ground
is the breed we call the Educated Man. In spite of all
the work that has been done the international experts in
UNICEF call it an ’experiment1. The 3 Tier System has by
and large failed and they are-looking for alternatives but
these people have not got intelligence nor grace enough to
acceptthe 1 Tier System - because they themselves could
not think of it. The 1 Tier System has been adopted all
all over the State but UNICEFt in public statements have
said it is still ’unproven’. I have written a number of
articles on the One Tier System: in their eyes it is pre
mature. Because it sounds '.too good to be true in its
simplicity and effectiveness, I am accused of misrepres
entation and distortion of facts. These experts cut a
sorry figure.
2. Funds for maintenance that should have been transferred
from the PHED to the Development Department is taking time.
Many BDOs do not know what the money is for and how it is
to be paid to the HPMs.
3.
b. The training institutions need support, Vehicles to
take the trainees out to damaged hand pumps which are pre
sently lying with the PHED!
4. The selection of HPMs have been faulty in many cases.
Instead of one HPM per 5 km radius many DRDAs have sent 5
trainees per village for TRYSEM training, This makes the
appointment of the HPMs very difficult.
86
5. Bank Managers are reluctant to F
give loans for special
toois because they think-, the HPMs will ..not pay back'. If
they look after their hand pumps properly there is no
reason why the amount cannot be paid back.
6. There is confusion over the right type of tools
Pro
ject officers DRDAs trun to the local PHED engineer for
guidance on the type of tools to be.-bought and because
HPMs are looked on as caretakers in many areas the wrong
set of tools are given. Naturally they cannot carry out
the major and minor repairs so the feedback is 'See we
told you. They are just not competent enough to repair
a hand pump. ’
7. The sarpanches in many villages are not prepared to
take the responsibility of monitoring HPMs. They have to
countersign that the pumps are in working order and with
tnat receipt the HPM gets the money from the EDO. In
many cases.sarpanches are not prepared to get their hand
pumps repaired by scheduled caste HPMs.
These are all problems that could be sorted out in time.
None is very serious. ~
...w community has responFor once the
ded spontaneously and even the BDOs
--- 3 are quite excited
over the idea of the HPM. It solves the major problems
we are all grappling with:
(a) technology transfer;
(b) community participation in this case is total;
(c) community accountability is assured 9
(d) village knowledge'and village skills are being used; "
(e) employment in the rural areas is being generated;
(f) village based institutions (panchayats, banks) are
being used, government schemes are being used
(TRYSEM, SC/ST subsidies) to the fullest extent;
(g) it is a system which is totally dependent on the HPM
and not inter-dependent like the 3 tier system where
one cannot do without the other. This promoted seJ
reliance.
^^nITy
K
6’ V
th
*Orar*°naai
/fld/a
AND
' /B/oc/c
ct£.i
6-660034
87
THIS PREJUDICE?
The tragedy with too' many experts spending too much-time
on a simple problem is that they can never come to a decision acceptable to- all. ’This has happened with the one
tier system. The people who use the pump want it; its the
best, most acceptable and definitely by far the most effec
tive system because it is located closest to the village.
The only trouble is our high powered experts do not want
the system to.work. It has damaged their pride, it has ex
posed their limitations and they are desperately looking
for a way of.saving face. The top engineers are all for
it but the middle and low rung within the Department look
on this process of demystification as a distinct threat.
UNICEF's narrow vision does not help.
Now different versions are coming outs two-tier systems
three and a half tier systems so long as it is not the one
tier because that identifies it with Tilonia and the State
Government of Rajasthan,
The Ministry of Works and Hous
ing have not even acknowledged it in their Working Group
Paper on the 7th Plan. J...'.
J.
’’
Just shows
the "lobby
that is at
work (or is it lack of understanding?)’) not to allow the
demystification to take place on a large scale. But that
I am afraid is the only answer if we wnt technology to
reach the poor.
SOURCE
Bunker Roy 5 " Why not now demystify this technology'1
in YdJana, January ?6, 1985
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II
WKia
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Dear Friend,
Kindly find enclosed the
following documents :
RAJIV GANDHI'S POLICY PROJECTION
This is an interview given to the
well known "Financial Time"(London)
by Rajiv Gandhi. It projects the
economic and political policies of
the present Prime Minister.
2. WHY NOT NOW DEMYSTIFY THIS TECHNOLOGY
optimism prevailing in the air which sees technology
flllr
T\V» />7-i 1 r\ V!<1—
_________ J_
ml _•
•
J a case
some of the pitfalls in the transfer of technology when local situations
are not taken into account.
P I I
3^JEMS TECHNOLOGY aRD THIS SCENARIO
■ho3hlS 13 5nvthCP stYdy in greater depth warning a^alxxoL
vhc illusu.
against the
illusory
hopes raised by certain concepts of technology.The author arfgues that
technology is not necessarily a key determinant to poverty eradication.
Poverty eradication
is
- ------ J a question of political economy, a question
of political will to bring about a qualitative shift in the model of
development.
4. TAMIL MILITAM'S UNITE
3• 5RI_LAj\IKA : IER£E~-PARTY CALL FOR SANITY
The above two documents reveal two trends of thinking which are emerging
on the &?i. Lanka question. Events are running fast.Only the future will
say which trend will get the upper hand.
With best wishes
ISI LOCUMFhTATIGN CENTRE.
70
gAJIV GANDHI'S POLICY PROJECTION
(AN INTERVIEW)
Rajiv Gandni, since, the day he became Prime Minister on October
^1 j 19^5j hcis given Biaxiy interviews to the Press* A porticulcirly
significan interview was given to the influential paper, the
’’Financial Times”(London), on April 4,1985. This interview however
receivea little coverage in India.We reproduce hero the full text.
It projects Rajiv’s thinking on the direction of economic and
foreign policies ho would like to nursue. This text has appeared
in ’’Mainstream”, April 1985, pp.
pp< 60 to 62.
^!S^2?:1¥°U h0Ve.been talking about’having aa mandate
mandate
for change, Wha't:: in India do you think most needs changing?
Answer: One must realise that most of our ideology, our
policies, and our thrust in planning was laid down 35
years ago in the early 1950s. Now while the ideology and
the basic, policies are still relevant, the method of ach
ieving these has changed with development and technology
with changes of what is available to us today and was not
available to anyone in the world 35 years ago. So we
must modify as we go along.
Question; What are the real problems of India?
Answer: Ultimately I think today our biggest problem is
population: getting it under control, Because it affects
everything that we want to do. On the political side,
making it more homogeneous, more cohesive- reducing the
difference between religions, castes, regions, languages
- all these multitudinous things that we have got.
the development side, lifting people
' - - up from
■ •c> ■ very
their
gross poverty and making them viable.
•
Question; Judging by tti,e speed with which you have initiated changes, ;you could
- - not
-. .have been too happy about
what you watched happening beforeh when you could do little or nothing about it.
Answer: The younger generation always feels things ore
yUrss s:? “ough °"d
thL
Question: Twenty years - is that how long you hope to
stay Prime Minister?
.71
Answer: It's not for me to say that - we have got five
years at the moment.
Questions But 'how frustrated did you feel?
Answer: In certain areas. very frustrated.
Questions Which particularly?
Answer: Oh corruption really and speed of implementation.
I think you can see corruption in two different areas. One
is the very big corruption which is easier for us to get
at and easier to control, and which w^ have managed to con
trol to a large extent since the early 1980s. By big I
mean the person who takes very large amounts.
What is going to be much harder to control is the ssmall
chap down in the villages where it is difficult forr us
really to find out about everything that goes wrong. But
we are trying to build a good feed-back
‘ system and a system where people will be accountable.
Question: On the big side, one has heard lots of stories
even in the past couple of years of large amounts of mon
ey
ey fceing
feing paid
paid on contracts either to Congtess-I or to in
dividuals.
Answer: Well, wherever we have found out we have taken
action' - dismissals, pushing them out of the political
centre.
Question: That’s just happened since you came to power?
Answers No before that. “People were moved very gently,
but if you look back now you will see how many changes
had taken place.
Question: Are they being moved less gently now?
Answer: Well, a little farter maybe.
Question: Are you prepared to soy publicly to the world
since many big bribes are paid by foreign companies, that
backhanders should no longer be paid to Indian politicians j
civil servants or middle men.
Answer: Absolutely, and that is one of the reasons we are
72
legalising political donations (from companies) so that
anyone who does want to give to a party can legally give
to a party. So one should assure that if anyone is asking
for something for the party and it is not going directly
to the party, then it is going elsewhere.
Question: So Congress(I) is taking no black money, at notional level?
Answer: No.
Question: And at local level?
Answer: I hope not, and if we find out, we will take act
ion. Anyone who wants to give us money (nationally or loc
ally) should give it legally — we have opened the channel.
Question: So businessmen abroad who are approached by mid
dle men and asked to give money in order to get contracts...
Answer: ... are being taken for a ride.
Question: Your mother had a :reputation
... Y’L,.- fl
for running a very
safe economic policy,, which was widely admired , especially
for not raising excessive foreign borrowings, Do you think
the time has come for more risk taking?
Answer: No. I do not think we are ready for that. Most of
the countries that have taken that risk are in very deep
trouble. We have managed to keep clear of such problems.
Question: Turning to industry, you have relaxed a lot of
industrial licences and controls, ?allowed more imports in 5
and opened up areas for the private sector., How far do
you really want to move the country away from its tradit
ional protectionism and centralism?
Answer: It depends on specific areas. On strategic and
core areas like energy, telecommunications, defence and
transport to some degree, we don’t want to ease up too
much and it should remain largely in the public sector,
from our strategic point of view we think it is necessary
that it does so. In other areas we are not going to be
very fussy abotit letting the private sector in and loosen
ing up the controls.
Question: How open an economy should India become?
73
41ob?pOge“ent’
^echnolosy: "the know-how were not avhad
bu-i??
hOli° bUlld in the Put>lic sector and we
had to build everything m the public sector. Now we have
uilt up that technological manpower and we must use it.
4’ +nehSvWhere WS fe!1 it is strotegically important for
phsJe government control which includes things like
food distribution for examplej it
•■ is
■ important
■
that Government keeps tabs on because we can't be blackmailed on
that.
where we h0ve developed a know-how,
peonlePin °
1 think we should ease up and let
people in - I am talking about Indian private sector as
opposed to foreign private sector.
secror as
Question: Poes that mean that you are changing the Social1st policy?
Answer: Not at all. If is sticking to the same basic
ideology translated into the end of the 20th century*
—
v
What
you have got to look at is did controls actually add to
any control, did they serve
a purpose? WTe are only doing
away with those that have not served a purpose. Those
controls that did serve a ppurpose have not been touched,
It's the Controls that havec got us clogged and bogged down
which we've removed.
Question: But why weren't such adjustments done earlier?
Answer: I think ta "lot' of people wanted to change, but there
were slot of political- pressure groups which did not allow
things to happen, or slowed down the process.
Question: What’s happered to that political
pressure?
Answer: They apply it and we ignore it.
Question; What is your approach to self-sufficiency and
import substitution?
una
Answer: We have been trying to become absolutely self-suf
■
ficient in everything. I don't want to change that’> I think
India must be self-sufficient on all fronts, But' to achieve
that end, I feel that today with these vast new technologies
coming up, we cannot afford to attack <on all fronts simultaneously. So we have to pick a few areas- toj come on par
74
with the advanced ccountries, then pick another few and so
on. ;In the meantime
...o, we have to soften up on other areas
because if
- we try to develop every single thing we are
really just re-inventing the wheel
--- again and again, and
it ’s not serving a purpose.
Certain
areas are strategic,
so we are going
„ to
'j carry on that development irrespective.
“
I
-4—
—_____ ’
Question: Do you plan to de
-nationalise anything -» the
banks may be?
I
Answer; At the moment we are really only looking at
the
sick industries. we have done an exercise
on
the
public
sector which will be
-j ready within ten days or two weeks.
Our thinking is that there a“"
where
soJts^nf1!?08 n° business being - tomato 'tbe public secsauce, and all
sorts of things. Thon
then there ere some other companies which
are public sector because
.<we were
to take them over,
. not because they were public
sectorforced
by design^
youSore”outtlwPto« t?S 816
belng ctitielsei
because, while
are being
criticised because
you are bn-i 1 dffs on “8nY Products not made here,
barriers like
pfotectlon wlth very high tariffs
made in lidK 2 ? P6r ?ent °n computers and components
uologicalHprotectionismf6
bech-
You have got to give them some protection till thev
find tneir feet; otherwise they'll never find their feet
But^e ore not reintroducing proteotlonien, ot o hi|h5 '
Question: What is your policy on the role of
anies in a developing country like India?
foreign comp-
Answer:
But we are very wary°of
C°Se VSry sPecifically.
the recent case o/dnionlffbifiel'°mp'’nies ~ We h°Ve hod
Question: Has that changed your views?
Answer: Well, the way they'are 1 ‘
behaving,postincident, certtSng ao“n,t°beh»vr,iOnS
t01kin« - —the whole
their whole
75
Question: is there any alternative to you taking court nc
tron in the US against them - is there any chance o? an
out-of-court settlement?
^nce Ox an
Answer: Today it r
seems
very unlikely. There is no way we
can accept the compensation
-- that they have suggested which
is too low.
yuestion: So that has changed your attitudes?
Answer: Yes, i’
in
only for making a buck at
any cost, that*tl?®nr,t+ey SP enough
for us. It has made us
rethink
on the whole business
-- Of foreiSn companies coming
in, ?look-imp’ '
rooKing
at the higher technology companies
■
and seeking where
'■'hero iwe could get them to work with us. Nov/ we have
to review the whole thing to see that
we are protected
properly.
Question: Is that o concern with American
companies in particular?
butSW:e‘areeliev?eCSiSgrth^jlCaeniot!SS EUr°PeOn °r j8pSnese’
Sitan°XX™iOn Corbi(?e is responsible for several American
e ican Electronic companies maybe not coming in?
Answer: It has definitely made a difference.
Questions Then what is the role of foreign companies?
Answer: We see them really in the high technology areas
which we cannot develop ourselves or make use of on our
own, and coming in such a manner that we learn that tech
nology
In some areas we'd like to have joint development
projects with them probably.
Question: Will you change the foreign exchange regulation
act rules, maybe on the basic 40
'.0 per cent limit for foreign
equity?
Answer: Not at the moment.
We have not considered it yet.
Question: But maybe , though I’m not specifically referring
to Union Carbide,. they’d be more willing to look after what
they’ve got and improve the technology if they did have a
bigger stake?
76
Answer: Maybe.
Question: Bo you have a view about whether you’d rather
™
°°unt,ries ^her than the US and USSR which are
away from the sharp end of East-West conflict?
Answer: We have increased our ■'trade tremendously with Europe and Japan during the last five
— J years and we!d like to
continue with that, We want to spread our trade right
across.
Question: Bo you have an economic model that you admire
or follow - say Japan or Singapore?
Answer: We are going to develop our own model as every country must for its own system to suit its own people.
Question: Bo you admire what Mrs. Thatcher has done economically in the UK?
Answer: In some-areas yes. She has been very strong and
bold in her stand on trying to get England out of the mire
it had got stuck in. But it wouldn’t work in India.
Question: I’m told there was always a special and close
relationship between Mrs. Gandhi and Mrs. Thatcher. Bo
you agree there was?
Answer: Yes? there was. I think they just got along well
together. I would like to continue that sort of personal
relationship.
Question: Would you set out your views on India’s future
relationships with the USSR*and the US?
Answer: With the USSR we have had a very btrong friendship.
They have helped in building our industries and they have
stood by us at times of need. So we appreciate that. The
US has let us down on a number of occasions - 1971 Bangla-.
desh, 1965 Pakistan. On one or two defence items where we
spent a very long time talking to them, ultimately they put
conditions that were just not acceptable.
Questions Would you like to buy defence items from the US?
Answer: Providing they come on reasonable terms. We have
no problems buying defence items from Britan, from France*
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77
Question: Could you ever trust the Americans in the way
you personally seem to trust Russia?
Answer: I think we could, 1but' they
"
must make their policy
with-regard to Pakistan very clear. Are they going to let
Pakistan make a nuclear bomb for example
.' ”: every indication
today is that they are.
Question: Do you think Pakistan has a nuclear bomb?
Answer: They are very close to one if they
got one,
—v have'nt
xav
and nothing is being done to stopJ it, 1and once it1s there
it will be a fait accompli, We'll be landed with a bomb
in the subcontinent.
Question: It sounds Do if your relations with Russia are
closer or warmer, what is the right word to use - trust?
I think closer is wrong. There is a history of friendship
and co-operation, With the US there have been those incidents: Arming Pakistan at the moment looking the other way
when they are making a bomb.
Question: What about your relations with all the South
Asian neighbours?
Answer: We want to improve our relationships with all of
them, with closer co-operation and exchanges.
SOURCE = IUINSTREAM,
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Anril
13,1985, PP«
60 to 62
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+ + + + + H-4--I-4..*+ +■ +
■ +
+ + + + + + + +
+
BASIC CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES
---------- 3 AND
+
+
THE FUTURE OP LATIN AMERICA
+
+
+ + + + + + 4- + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Most people probably think of relations
between religious and the left as nonexistent or antagonistic. In reality this
has not been the case. Radical ideas
u..l
and
movements usually had a religious form or
atleast strong religious overtones.
This
over tone s
article from H
Monthly
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-
■
Commentary on '*''revolutionary"
- • developments in Latin American Catholicism has , tended
to
focus
..
on what Eight be seen as ih
.
thec ideological
component 9 :liberation
"
theology. Equally surprising and important
however,
has been.a
a new
new jkind of pastoral work leading to a new model for the
church, the comunidades eclesiaies
------------ j de base.
dropped. Base ('grassroots') denotes the bottom of a social pyramid
where power and wealth are tightly held and maintained b.y miMtaS force.
We may translate comunidades <eclesiaies
"
debase as "basic.Christian conmunities” (BCCs) and define them
---- 1 as "small layled groups of people,
primarily poor, who <combine
_ 11
consciousness-raising, bible study, worship,
mutual help and (often) political < ’*
BCCs „r vary ln sl20
V«’l 00^™
BCCs may vary in size from a dozen or so to 100
There are an estimated 80,000 such communities in Brazil alone, and thev
are present throughout Latin America. More important than their I^meSca!
More important than their
presence, however, is the social force they have3 <come to' represent. The
following overview will first describe their origins
and functioning and
then assess their political significance.
PASTO.UL ORIGINS
•+ i
2? C°UnC11 11 ° 962-65) sone catholics were questioning
the inherited patterns of the church,
church. Typically, priests and sisters
were disprooortionnteW
disproportionately involved in serving the riddle classes
n.
123
(eg. through catholic schools). Consequently, a rural pastor who might
, a :
have 20,000 or more people under his care would spend his time
tine making
occasional visits to outlying villages to baptizej, marry, and say mss.
People1 s religious life wnet its own way, transmitted more by popular
culture than by anything the. church’s representatives night do or say.
Increasingly, there was a sense , tha t a new Eiodel of pastoral work was
needed.
Starting in the Eid-1 960s that new model appeared in the f o an of BCG si.
Priests, and increasingly sisters, began to break out of the traditional
mold and "go to the people." In the early, days the very sight of
priests m shirUeevos or nuns in simplified habits or lay dress was a
novelty and helped to break stereotypes of them as representatives of
another world. They would divide a parish into local units (villages in
the countryside, barrios, or neighbourhoods in the cities) conducive to
forninga sense of community. They would then get to know people through
house visits, sometimes borrowing methods from sociology or anthropology
m order to begin to understand the experience, vocabulary, values nnd
worldview of ordinary people and popular culture.
At. some point they would invite people to a meeting, usually in the
evening, leading to a series of meetings for "dialogue." One approach
would be a series of Bible discussions, a novelty where the Bible had
been considered ^rotestant property. A reading of the Genesis creation
account might focus on the sense of human begings as "God’s image" (and
hence anyone who hurts another human being is disfiguring God’s image).
Oe, the statement that the Lord gave the earth to Adan might be followby questions
Hin an
wheth^r the earth (Spanish tierra, meaning both
land and earth ) was for only some people or for all. Thus the biblit0 a criti^ue of land-tenure patterns. Again the
reading of the Exodus account would be on God hearing the cry of the
oppressed people, and parallels could be drawn to present situations.
The reading of Jesus’ life
life would
would highlight
highli^it its
its conflictive
conflictive nature,
nature, and
his death would be seen as a result of the conflict - while the resurecbion would be God’s~ “
* ” ’ ‘
vindication
of ”Jesus’ struggle.
Another approach night be to start with coninon human experiences. For
example, a simple example of family life might lead into a discussion of
other similar incidents and into what ’family' neans: the fact that we
con^^ °?e nnother’ the meaning of loyalty, love, etc. The discussion
could move to seeing the local comnunity and humankind itself as a
ar bf°thLrS and sisters> God is
Father, the church should
thl Jt?® 3
the GUCharist is intended as a family meal. Sonetines
e Bible night be used to affirm ideas already in popular culture
while other tines it would challenge then: eg. the double standard that
expects wonen to be faithful and men to prove their mehisno through
heir sexual prowess would be questioned with scripture texts showing the
marriage union as an image of the union between Christ and the church.2
A ihird approach might be to begin with what people thou^it the community
needed, reducing unhygienic conditions in the barrio, or getting the
government to deliver services, such as schools or drinking water.
Whatever the starting point, the emphasis was onl "dialogue.M Pastoral
agents sought not only to listen to the words, but
'
to try to tap into
124
people’s experience and learn from them - to be "evangelized" hv
peop e. For their part, the people came to question the way they had6
been socialized intoj seeing the world and its social arrangements(ineluding their poverty and
other
,
----- ‘ P^ple’s wealth) as due to tie ’’will of
God,” and they began to
realize that what.had been made by human hands
could be un-made and re-made, Indeed, the Bible itself was testimony
that God called human beings to
responsibility and that he stood with
the poor in their struggle against
oppression. Prayer and singing were
also a part of the meeting.
A strong influence in this work, in both methodology and mystique wns
CONSCIENTIZACAO.
Although Freire-is^ost well
Paulo’Freire ’ s C
-----known in connection
with
1_
---- —a literacy, his ideas have probably had their
widest impact through BCCs.5
in
arsense of community as
n'.rniZ f
f r
11 these meetings
ueetlngs would
wou1^ lead
-Lead to a
to Si
t0
eaCh Other’f even
even to
t0 trust
trust one
another, r__l
and perhaps
one another,
n&-S-O ln nodest local actions. Sometimes
Sometimes most
of
the
people
most of the people of a vilae,e would consider themselves members of the BCC ; in other circurastan
cos the participants might be a small minority, eg. in a valt fZi?
eg.
where most people were not interested. In other words
, sooXItSTrCC
In other words
itlel^fver COn?ru®nd with *0 local community,9 and sometimes it defined
itself over against the larger community.
The critical point was reached when t
" ”
some of the participants would emerge
as leaders, and after soiae formation fron the
--j pastoral agents (eg. a
course with other village or barrio leaders) they would 1
1
be^ing
to lead
Meetings or help organise the community. Eventually there
might be a num
her of such comuni ties perhaps
t
x'------ even dozens of them, each with its
own
leadership. At that point the parish itself
would
be
viewed
as
a
network
of BCCs, and the priests and sisters
would function as coordinators and
advisers.
'nr'ri
'
•’
Naturally, the idea for BCCs ddid not simply spring up spontaneously in
the imagination of priests and sisters, but was prepared by earlier
developments..One of these was undoubtedly the growth of Protestantism
in
latin America. With, their practice of encouraging people to lead'the
Bible and their accessible worship, as well as through lay pastors the
Prot stant churchps contrasted sharply with the elite view of Catholi
cism, symbolized in the Latin mass (until the late 1960s).
Another antecedent was Catholic Action. In the early decades of this
oentury, recognizing that the church had -lost” the working class
some
priests in Europe (especially Bolgiun and France) carried out a snecial
S (o1:
-P-lally through sin Xp. 0?
net +n Sin
conscious imitation of conuunfst parties), who
rb ■ ° discuss their conditions and examine how they could maintain a
hristian presence in the factory environment. Of particular importance
™ thoxr uso of the "otoorve-juage-.oot"
ASuos SStL”
sone aspect or problem, judge it from a Christian viewpoint , and
and commit
comait
yourselves to take sone modest action. Christian viewpoint
cwpoint, and commit
Mstorv^It bioain VS thS iuP2Cl°f researc11 in scripture and church
history. It became clear
that
that the
the existing
existing fom
fom of
of.. the
the church came
Testament ^ndee^b0?^1^1 ^nd thc Middlc Ages) but not from the New
commo.,
JoTie^ear^t^iXX11
3316
aS 3
125
were alienated from the Anglican church\
7
^danary people who
Protestant churches in Latin America have
-p i +
ward a BCC strategy because their normal form £J th^oJTsS”136 t0"
sXTon^s:fP^:e:tlc;dership is
groups, especially those6 of the
1S in their emphaticall^HtSs-worldly^tSeolo^
political
Variety
IMPACT
Thus far this account
b -p
frozen the frame somewhere during the earlv
years of BCCs, 1before
~
thoor poHtiool mpuopti™. „„ clfaP. Ou“peP_
pose has been to insist
wore bon out of a desire ? dlr rdigi0US insPirati°n. and origins. They
on the part of the church's pastoral agents
priests, and disters, ‘
iVefXSy?
releVant f03m of ^ahgelisation’and
to form a real Christian
BCCs, however, have become protagonists on the political
on the political scene- Most BCC
coulddPdts.ad P?°r' Althcu^h in principle the middle c
----- j and upper classes
Si
1? the BCCS? they haVS ^ined content
with tradith;e ChrisHan Family movement dr the Cursillos de Stiandad^ such as
5 are valued.They
you
poor;
the
reign
of
God is yours.
Blest arc you who hunger; you shall be'filled.
---------- . Blest are you who are
weeping; you shall laugh" applied in a r
’
this-worldly
sense. They find the
beginning of an organizational structure that
o
offers
some hope of helpmg them meet concrete problems.
The rise of BCCs was linked to the Latin American
its own identity m the years following Vatin II, church’s achievement of
growing crisis
pLrof'SI Iberian coL'°Sn°delS' Latin and to the
Catholi"^u
was
Catholic church's forms remai eat®rprise’ and after Independence the
set largely by European theoJoSanyand^s^6 aS6nda T VatiCnn 11 WGS
u^^s^r-czs^^wf??
in documents, the council uni? 1^S POsf^f°ns
stated
As Latin Americans looked at their "world" i”
could not be as optimisA^°Ut "pr0®ress" ns European Catholics’ they
It
-J
was
becoming clear that
the Alliance for Progress was failing, and that
Wits (
P^vea L u’a.
cut off
-
126
“’“hS
ot
SiOoOOXOO'OO1’11;:”
tance was the figure of Co-ho
S''f?a oSU’
PnradiSna'*:ic inporSist who became WicafiSd iv .
’
Co1onbian Priest and sociolocould be no relnrn tiSiut X + 1
aM insi^ that there
illusion of democracy naint^nJ3?111^ i°f POw®rsought to break the
the Liberal and Conservative' parties by propXii ^pbStical^c
called the United Front. Hounded out of his3 noMtiph i s \dement
out the continent. Ziih£Siato?ySthereP
Catholics through-
“ Hxr3 s
fact, was newly
minted). The Medellin documents, because of their
activity1
authority, became the platform for innovative church
Up. to this point the phrase
theology of liberation" itself had not been
coined.For sone years, jtU_. tk0010^1^118 as the Peruvian Gustavo Gutierrez
and the Uruguayan Juan Luis3 Segundo had felt an intuition that theology
in Latin America should ] ‘
not simply be a European import. The political"
experiences
of the mid-1 960s, such as that of Camilo Torres, served no n
nn-t-oi a.
woSn b-T S°On S°ne °f th® najOr thenes be^-n to emerge (eZ that
worldly history and "salvation history" are not sennr-it! tw J •
not necessarily opposed to strug .le, evo^ ciX sSuS:,’ that kX^iife
caching, death, and resurrection must be viewed in the context of biq
foro^BCCs and PreSen* stru^10s etc-)' Many of these thenes emerged before BCGs were very developed, but
but liberation
liberation theology
theology was greatly stimulatcd by the grassroots experience coning from BCCs r*’
- --- - Liberation theology
is neither the explanation for Catholic political activist?
,as conservatives who see it as ’’Marxist infiltration” i
'
?
would have it) nor is it a
simple distillation and codification of BCC experience (as sone onesidedly grassroots views night have it).
BCCs AND POLITICAL STRUGGLE
Priests and sisters bringing new
new ideas
the jpoor
were naturallv
ideas to
to the
with , suspicion, particularly by landholders.
F --- '
naturally regard
«
---- - Soon there were isolated
incidents of violence. In early 1970 Father Jose
n- x
-Inocencio Alas was kidnapped, beaten, drugged, and, left
m the hills for his work with BCCs in
Suchitoto, El Salvador. Hector Gallego
was kidnapped
and ’’disappeared”
from Santa Fe, Panama, in July 1 971 , touching
off
a
major
conflict between the church and the Torrijos government. 4
The critical point, however, came not simply with the infusi n of
but when consciousness-raising began to move toward the step of of^niza
tion. At that point BCCs begin to become a political force.
Their political impact has ’varied widely,
depending on the political context. We nay consider five such
--- 1 contexts?
127
1. In sone countries (Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Costa Rica, Pannm
Ecuador) even though tne economic systeu works a.ainst the najority f
repression my be us^d selectively, there is an overall senblance ^fand *
legitimcy (though the electoral process), and it is hard to visualize
r volution on the horizon. The biblical symbols of "liberation" cannot be
related to ;any viable proyecto ("project") of liberation. In such a context BCCs tend
—■ to bo
-J nore church-centered, ;nnd their political action my
remain within the existing framework
.. - - ---- .9 eg. in development projects.
could at least keep
alive their hope and have an experience o/connunitv
and mutual support. Sone of the spin-offs fron BCCs such as clinics or
V
of ?BOeoOSrnnS fi’ht helE> pe°Ple sinPly to survive. The religious synbols
. . . , 0 ^minded people that life triumphs over death. To sone extent it
X!°
mtorpretati™ and black 61X X Jh,
oth.a Sb
J !>™e tO th° Slb10' h"1
Ansrioana wore aware of
Mio
7e”?b.eSh‘"'
’111"S ‘re"0' ‘he P0PUlnr
”re
tan„ ioXlo
^eraaeat la
for a reais-
3. In. Central Anerica during the late
1_.
Z~Za ther.
1; 970s
emerged serious revolutionary novenents with strong ties to BCCs. 1
The Salvadoran case is
especially clear. Contrary to conventional viewsi in the United States,
the "Salvadoran crisis" began not in 1979 but around 1970 (although
'
- 'in
another sense it was perennial). The 1969 war with Honduras forced
many
tens of thousands Salvadoran peasants back to their already
crowded
counry and drastically affected El Salvador's share of the Central
Anerican
2°i°Oni£nk0tA4-The PamL‘ilitary group ORDER was already at work in
the
s’
around ^his tine th; BCC became a connon and
nant n°del of pastoral work
work in
in many
many rural
rural regions,
regions especially ""the arl^to”
the north and northeast of
of San
San Salvador.
Salvador. In many of today's bStle sit^
there was
significant BCC
work (suchitoto,
was significant
BCC work
(suchitoto, Aguilares, Apop^ ArcSno
^!-Z?“®P.e?Ue’ Gu*ZaPa).:_The step fron consciousness-raising to organization took place around 1 973-75.Peasant leaders and
previously_oxi
stanG Christian
Ch cistinn^eV^r^ro^n^atSf^ECC:?
a previously
existing
Democrat
of Christian Peasants of Bl Salvador) into
late 1974 a BCC in La Cayetana, San Vicente, c
the
then to rent it. Instead the arny
army attacked,
attacked Siifn.
-0 owner would allow them
a number of peasants.
n
L
J
dtbacKea
mu
x
°f t . experience emerged, the UTC (Union of
Rural Works.
s).* Tilese
These two
two organizations
organizations later
later joined
j '
.
together to form th^
peasants bora of tbs BPS (Bavolntf .„.,ry pooplo,. Bloc) the laXt „)
the
“roos)
’’popular organizations “d 11"k«d
«”>
LlXu™
-) guerrillas.
1974 a
-La
SuS xni:::ioh;Px
In other words, there is a direct line from BCC pastoral work to‘th°
°fganisat;1-ons to a Marxist guerrilla organization. The popular
organrzations were genuine peasant organizations expressing the ZXS
nnH
and denands (eg. striking, and demonstrating for better wages
e.
working conditions, specifying the number of tortillas and snoonfful
leavea?h?BC? to^J rGCeiVe. °n the jcb)“ Furthermore, people did not
7® L
BCC to join a popular orga izati^n but continued to particinnfp
involved th6'7 neetTn®s and worship. It would seen that often the two
olved the sane people and perhaps the sane leaders.
I
I
|
/
128
X£ p ?0Car Roaero wrote a remrfable pastoral letter on "The
Church and the Popular Organizations," basically supporting the people's
right to forn such organizations but insisting at the sane tine that
rt°P1k S^°Uld rGC0®nize and oaintain the distinction between then and the
indiSb
£Ct village-level
that he felt people
Obligednight
t0 insist
P°intparticipa
would
indicate Jb
that at the
often on
seethetheir
ting vVh BCC an+Vn theor 3111tRnt Peasant organisation as being essentiaily the sane thing. Certainly the landholders and the ailitary per
ceived things that way and began a systematic attack on both the popular
organisations and church personnel in early 1 977. Around a dozen priests
ano hundreds of lay church leaders were murdered. This v ry experience
spurred .sone church people to begin systematic documentation of hunan
lights violations around 1978 and later to provide humanitarian relief
fOr refu'?Ges fleeing official and d ath-squad violence.
iiichoisnop Romero s own role was to a great extent that of giving voice to
wmat he saw among the peasants and heard from then.
In Nicaragua BCCs became involved in the anti-Sonoza stru- ,le. One Sandia
msta said they were like ’’quarries” for the PSLM. CEPA (Center for A^ricul ural Education and Training), a church program for rural leaders
eventualiy served as c network linked to the Sandinistas and was the
e..bryo.for the ATu (Association of Jural Workers), today the official
Sandinista farmworker union.
In Guatemala the CUC (Committee for Peasant Unity),
the largest militant
peasant organization, wa• the outgrowth of church work
—- - and the Justice
and Peace Committee was a network of pastoral agents,« m
nany of whom waked
with BCCs. Both CUC and the Justice and Peace Committee
—j became members of
opposition coalitions.5
4. Brazil exemplifies another political context, as it emerges from one
of the most extreme repressive military dictatorships. Assessments of the
possibilities of the "democratic opening" differ but it has brought a
change for BCCs and the church, which offered virtually the only public
critique of the Brazilian development model and its human cost for 15
years, and the only avenue of expression of at least muted discontent. As
the generals have allowed liberalizations, there is return to political
life. Many BCC participants have sympathized with PT (Workers Party) and
have been a strong component of its increasing strength. Others inclined
t*10 n°re "re31istic form of opposition provided by the PMDB (Party
of the Brazilian Democratic Movement). Yet others, particularly sone pas
toral workers, remain convinced that such political participation has
tittie value and that the only valid works is at the grassroots-a position
that has been criticized as romantic basisno ("grassrootism") since it
ignores.the issue of state power. In any case BCC.s have been somewhat
relativized and their direct political impact is perhaps lessened.6
5. Finally since July 1979 BCCs in Nicaragua have found themselves in the
midst of a revolutionary effort to build a new society. (BCCs do not
exist in Cuba since church activity there is confined to the churches and
the Cuban Communist Party follows classical orthodox practice, largely
because the church acted as refuges for those who opposed the revolution.)
in Nicaragua BCC pastoral work had been less common than in El Salvador.
Today the BCCs support the revolutionary process, which they view as being
a (partial) "mediation"- of the Kingdom of God. This does not mean un
questioning support of the Sandinista Front as such, but in practice it
means.active collaboration: many BCC members are active in the mass orga
nizations, and in fact there is tendency for BCC lay leaders to coopted’
129
into the ]_political
'*’
taks of the revolution. In some cases there is a
”s e c ula ri z i ng” effect as
sl°i toTe+hfr°a 3 bibliCal t0 a M^xist worldview, but that does not seem
to be the usual case.
Accusations that the BCCs are
are a■ ^ndinict-n „
+ .
church " are untrue. The support
given to>hreotea “d-nam^’d "people's
The support
given to0 the
and their pastoral agents
into confit
the revolution has brought BCCs
agents
with the Nicara^n Catholic
bishops, most of whom
shareinto
Jh conflict
° I
most of whom share the
sie. But the BCCs are determined to k
/ 6 anti-Sandi*istn bourgeoi"fanily" of the church and to
conflicts within the
revolution.
'
'
C a h®ad~°n conflict between the church
CONCLUDING REMARKS
BuCs in Latin America are a minority phenomenon
, •
minority of
J a minority
“’in
“raAguilares
(El Sal —
a very large
Oniv
’ 00 tout «
of a popalation
population of jo^j;
30,000) - ' "
put
«t
400.7
I„
Slo.u
rw!, today tho
her of active partiXnnt%d,irScc:tw^ir°--'----- l probably be in the thousands.
BCC participants Sns£?uJe fcore o^noSvSl COns\i<terati;,ns al°ne.
of thnJ i
77
»
themselves and have - certain mvstion
blVatod people who have organized
thel, futuuu.
X “f " l>r”a ’lsl™ « «>»lr Uv~ and
roots network in place Mpph/'v •
’
s^s^Ga,,I^ic ? there is a grassw
positive role in revoKtiona^ struXles^neX^T^8
haVe played a
In its official statement on “religion the S
in Central America,
thinking partly of BCCs when it noted thnf nt
PrOnt was no doubt
overthrew of Somoza "to a degree un^e^en^U
taken part in the
movement in Latin America and perhans in^h
°ther evolutionary
and interesting possibil itico
the worla. This fact opens new
lutions elsewhere, not only in the oMse^ofClpatlon of Christians in revoPhnse of building a new society."8
f struesle for P°wer but in the
gv
«yS°S»
- ---- - ?'•tove “rlch w,bo1
pueblo, the ’’peoole” (itself a
Glr po\n't of reference is the
technical notion of the proletariat"^Th QOnc1ept^ rather than simply the
place events in a bro-ad perspective’ end ^mb°ls.of "exodus" and "kingdom"
resurrection links the individual s’li^
3 bas\c Pa«ern of death/
if necessary—to the pattern of Christ \rchh ,W111^neness to sacrifice it
kill me J will riS0 ± ..
1
Archbisnop Romero said, "If they
secularized statement, since iLs belief"^^ "
Sinply a
orthodox; indeed, its power anon^ ConJr ? Ahe .resurreGtion was quite
thrugh the linking of orthodox faith in th AaerlCans cones precisely
struggle.
xTnoaox faith m the resurrection to the people's
»
130
From Marxism people get a methodology for analyzing the play of forces in
society, for organizing themselves, for taking actions and evaluating
. theireffects, for keeping before then the goal of taking power in order
to bring about change. Yet their preferred discourse remains the "utopian"
discourse of Christianity, rather than the "scientific" language of
Marxism.9
=
The future of Latin America need not be Central America writ large. For
example, some Brazilians hope BCCs will be a fforce for massive nonviolent
pressure movements that can bring further conflict
- — and
—. that
—-J BCCs will be
important protagonists.
N 0 T E S
1. The origins of BCCs are obscure. Some BCC work was done in Brazil at
least by 1963o The work of a group of Chicago priests led by Leo Mahon
in San Miguelito Panama from 1 965 onward provided a model for na.ny
hundreds of North American missionaries, who stopped in Panama to
observe it and often replicated aspects of it in their own work.
2.
It iw<i.s only in the 1 970s
—‘
that feminist theologians pointed out the
sexual stereotyping in the Bible itself.
3. Paulo Freire was associated with progressive Catholic groups in
Brazil in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The author participated in
a seminar on "Conscientization and Evangelization" led by Freire in
Chile in January 1 969. People associated with Freire were anonv the
2xPer^s who helped draft the documents of the Medellin conference of
Catholic bishops (1968) and so inserted Freirean terminology into
official catholic discourse.
4. The disappearance was never cleared up,
up, probably
probably because the one
responsible was a landholder who wa
wass a cousin of General Torrijos.
The church-state confrontation was somewhat artificial, since the
church was not the great chanption of the poor and the populist
Torrjos govern.ient was not simply their oppressor.
5. For a detailed account see Philip Berryman, The Religious Roots of
Rebellion: Christians in Central American Revolutions (Maryknoll.
N.Y.: Orbis Press, 1984.)
6. See Scott Mainwaring, t,rThe
"
Catholic Church, Popylar Education, and
Political Change in Brazil
11,” Journal of Interamerican Studies and
World Affairs, February 1984, pp. 97-124.
7. EGA Editores, Rutilio Grande, Martin de la Evangelizacion Rural en
El Salvador (San Salvador: VGA Editores, 1978), p.80.
8. "Conaunicado Oficial de la Dirrecion Nacional del ESLN Sobre la
Religion," Karricada (Managua), October 7, 1980.
9. Reporter Clifford Krause, visiting guerilla-control ed areas in El Salva
dor in 1982, was surprised to find the strong religious influences.His
article was subtitled "Their Bible is the Bible," The Nation, Julv 3
1 982, pp. 7-1 0.
J
K 0 E: MONTHLY
REVIEW
- July - August 19Q4-
[1 J. 1 Oooutwr/tdtfon Centre
E Box 4G28
Ed/o ie- 5GG 04G
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SPACE l?i
CONQUERING
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The profitability of space is not just economic;
it is also political, because of the prestige
with which the general public views any achieve
ment connected with space. But is it in any way
profitable in socio-cultural termsTThis would bo
more difficult to prove. The conquest of space
doos not take account of its social relevance;it
is little concerned with the quality of life nnd
is hardly interested at all in the effects a this
conquest on value systems. What is at issue is
man ? Doos he dominate ? Or does he passively
accepts this domination ?
The Absence of Socio-Cultural Innovation
There is an enormous gap, a gulf, a ’blackhole’, between the weight
accorded to military and economic considerations in space policies,and
that accorded to the socio-cultural sphere. This is a reflection of the
inability of the socities concerned to adapt to the socio-cultural
changes that are taking place, and even less to guide them according
to a scale of values, of ethical parameters and a set of goals for the
enhancement of people’s well-being and self-fulfilment, and to create
the conditions required for peace.
This gap is being continually widened, because mankind as a whole has
not yet proved itself capable of implementing the same degree of socio
cultural innovation that has been"introduced in the scientific and
technological fields. Psychology teaches us that the extension of
space reduces conflicts in a group. The extension of our space,thanks
to scientific progress, seoms to be doing the opposite, and increasing
conflicts. Satellites make it necessary to Trall-d miti~Gat4jllities#.. .
Geostationary orbits are ideal for communication satellites, but they
are already the object of major battles.
Despite all the progress that has been made thanks to the conquest of
space, it is hard to deny the increased short-sightedness that is being
shown with regard to man’s future. People look far into the future when
drawing up space programmes or when they have to identify objects
revolving in space, but they do not look any further than the end of
their nose where the socio-cultural implications of these developments
are concerned. We do not possess any scientific data to enable us to
establish how current technological developments will affect our way of
life and value systems 15 or 20 years from now. Fortunately, we have
our artistic and literary creativity, science fiction and films about,
the future to bridge this inexcusable gap in part.
There are a great many, high quality philosophical and sociological
studies of time. It would be valuable to draw on these when studying
the socio-cultural consequences of the conquest of space, taking
i.
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-120-
tural systems h
g 1
that ®x;Lsts between temporal schema and culural systems, because, as Jean Ladriere has said: ’The temporal schema
necessarily influences tne viiole cultural system, by destroying the
consistencies on which the latter has been established. In this sense,
project linked temporality, as it works in scientific research and
technological enterprises, contributes to the destructuring of traditional. cultural systems, which are based on other forms of tempora-
By upsetting our notions of space, the conquest of space is contributing
to the destruction of the temporal concepts that underlie our value
system.s
The problems of space law, for example, which
i’ ' ’ we will noi be discussing1
here, are only incidentally legal problems. The main reason that they
exist is that there are no norms in this new sphere, and the issues
that are raised relate to socio-cultural value systems much more than
to bases of law or jurisprudence.
is
The conquest
of space/both
, .
the source and the product of techno logical
^novation. All
All innovation
innovation involves
involves breaks,
breaks stratogic and even economtc
ruptures caused by.this innovation,, but
but we
we are not so well acquainted
with the iway in which socio-cultural ruptures are caused, and the directian in which
----- \ I31?® 3ystans develop. Research into these issues is vir* y non-existent. The reason is very simple and should be expressed
-s clearly as possible. Man has never been a priority in space profniS and activities. Man's place in space is in the technological
pinoffs—what can be culled from the consumer and the robot of space,
but he is still far from becoming the subject.
P
conquest of space; rhey must bo viewed realistically, and not through
the rose-coloured spectacles of the media which encourages for various
reasons ooundiess wonder and amazement. 0 ne thing is certain: on the
earth there are a great many elementary problems that are placing the
fe ana survival of man st stake, and many of them could already have
een devoted to them as has been devoted to outer space.
The_Third_World: ^Satellization’,
BUT INTO WHICH ORBIT ?
Where does the Third World stand so far as the conquest of space is con
cerned?.We have already referred to this question in political terms,
but it is even more acute in socio-cultural terms. Most of the Third
Woria. countries are very late in catching up with scientific and technological developments, more because of a lack of socio-cultural policy
and a neglect of value systems rather than because of a shortage of
c^^1!1lrreS°UrCOS' Scientific creativity and technological innovation
cannot take place m a.vacuum or in the files containing 'co-operation'
thot^n + oh fhady fo1' Signature; they need endogenous development models
taat match Their value systems and which have social relevance.
Outside China, India and three or four other countries, the Third World
is not in the mnning for the conquest cf space , and yet it is the Third
World that is going to suffer the greatest socio-cultural consequences
- 727-
SO far as the information, the transmission of televised programmes and
other applications are concerned. In the space field, the Third World
has been 'launched', yet it is not the master of its own orbit. Its
orbital self determination' depends on its mastery of its own value
systems, the exploitation of scientific research and regional coopera
tion which will enable it to reach that critical mass it needs to avoid
falling back even further.
One of the most acute ethical problems that arise in North-South rela
tions in the space field is not so much the fact that tens of billions
of dollars are being poured into the galaxies instead of being spent on
helping to eradicate famin e, disease, ignorance and poverty on earth.
Charity has never been able to settle this kind of problem - for a
variety of reasons - a major buyer of weapons irom the industrial countries.
These purchases will not help the Third World in tie least to develop
sceintific or technological research, as is the case for the countries
that sell these weapons. On the contrary, the Third World..is indirectly
financing a considerable share of the developed countries’ scientific
research effort. This involuntary participation can be put at over one
quarter of the total cost of the programmes being implemented by the
space powers. This is something that may seem untenable at first sight,
but it is comparatively easy to explain why it is true.
Between 1975 and 1982, the Third World spent 78,500 million dollars on
weapons. Three quarters (74.8 per cent) of these weapons were bought
from the six space powers, totalling 50,000 million dollars (at 1975
prices) in ten years. That makes a total expenditure of §6,000 million
per year on an average. The annual average expenditure on space research
in the United States over for example, the same ten years was about
§6,800 million. Third World arms purchases are worth at least 50 per
cent of the aggregate world expenditure on space activities. When one
recalls the close strategic, economic and financial link between the
arms industry and the space industry, one night well feel that the esti
mated 25 per cont mentioned above is realistic enough. It is not neces
sary to go any further in this demonstration to understand the ethi
cal problems that this raises in North-South and South-South relations.
The final point that we will mention in this socio-cultural section, con
cerns a phenomenon that is lively to grow considerably in the future. I
am referring to the a rrogance which the conquest of space seems to be
instilling into th e conquerors.
It is a problem that ranges beyond the socio-cultural and ethical fields,
because our attitude to the creation of the universe and the humility with
which we perceive it
particularly after having managed to unveil some
of its mysteries - belongs to the realm of metaphysics of faith. And here
lies one of the keys to the most difficult conquest of all - the conquest
of interior space - namely, man himself.
There can be no conclusion to a study of this kind. Ono questinn remains:
Why conquer space? For what purpose? How can it guarantee the dignity of
man, his self fulfilment, and how can it ensure peace on earth and peace
in space? This is where the crux of the debate lies, not in technolo
gical achievements that exist for
the extermination of mankind. Tech
nology has nothing to do with the real issues; what is at issue is man,
whether he is the one who dominates, or whether he passively accept
this domination.
sources SEMINAR - June 1935
ISI DOCUMENTATION CSNTHE, p.3. 4628, Ba ng al ore - 560 O46
THE
TERRORIST AND DISRUPTIVE ACTIVITIES
_(PrGVention2_ACTL 11 985.
-717-
Taking advantage of the natural public revulsion against the loss
of innocent lives through the bomb blasts which were witnessed recently
in Delhi and elsewhere, the Government of India is rushing through parlia
ment a truly draconian legislation called uThe Terrorist and Disruptive
Activities. Prevention Bill, 1 985n which lS calculated to confer on police
and administrative authorities vast and arbitrary powers to interfere with
the legitimate activities of citizens.
Section 5 of the Bill enables the Central Government to make such
rules "as appear to it necessary or expedient for the prevention of, and
for coping with, terrorist acts and disruptive activities”. Rules can be
made under section 5 to prevent the spread of any reports or the prosecu
tion of any purpose ’’likely to prejudice maintenance of peaceful condi
tions”, to regulate "the conduct of persons in respect of areas the con
trol of which is considered necessary or expedient and the removal of
such persons fom such areas”, to require any persons "to comply with any
scheme for the prevention, for for coping with, terrorist acts and pre
ventive activities", and so forth.
Assumption of such vast coercive powers by the executive was
was quite
quite
with terrorist acts and socially harmful activi—
ties, r"
-■
The ordinary
law of the land, embodied in the Indian Penal Code and
the Code of Criminal Procedure, can easily deal firmly and adequately with
terrorist acts and activities which are really disruptive.
Unnecessary for coping
J
The oppressive nature of the legislation is further brought out by
the way it deals with persons who are. merely suspected of terrorist or
disruptive acts. They can be produced after arrest before executive (not
judicial; magistrates. They cannot be released on bail except after
notice to the Public Prosecutor and only if they satisfy the magistrate
that they are innocent of the alleged offences. If they are not released
on bail, they will remain in jail for a whole year even if no charge
sheets have been filed against them in any magistrates court.
Another harmful feature of the Bill is,that the definition of
.disruptive activity” is so wide as to include a mere expression of
opinion, not accompanied b^ any violence or incitement to violence.
Any Sikh who says that ;he agrees with the Anand Saheb Resolution, any
Muslim who says that there should be a plebicite in Jammu & Kashmir,
any Naga or Mizo or Manipuri who says that the people of his State should
have the right of self-determination, is guilty of ’’disruptive activity”
and can be punished by a sentence which may extend to imprisonment for
life and shall not be less than imprisonment for a term of three years.
i
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-113-
^°se who
unity and .
^aneous r-regions of the
ersion.
tw*
- -a™:s P
drive secessionist
^sat1Sfacti0n of the 1OC£1
population.
is to
this legislation hoped that r 11
and demand its
rfX“-1OT“®
21 -5-1 985
V.M. TAJKUNDE
•President, Citizens
Adviser
SOURCE:
People* s Union for
on the
hey
Hll
°PPose
for Democracy
and
Civil liberties.
The Radical Humanist
JUNE - 1985
----^-^CuLa T£OiI_Qjl y
Ban9CL lore-56031
at ion Only
This report is a suppliment to our privtous
document 'The Banjhi a assacre:Some Searching
toest-Lohs '(pp 107 to 116). This will help the
readers to understand the recent development
taking place interms of 'Banjhi Massacre'.
j
i
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/
/
/
I
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/
----- 1
DHAN31D
To,
bear Sir/hadam
f
i
Enclosed, report of (Jom.Uma shankar shukla,
secretary, MCC
and Com. Shiba i'iahto MLA, JlifM who visited the place
where !
19/Ad/sTT2h^r3 kill.ed in Police firing near Saheboanji
on
19/4/85 is being sent to you for publicatio n0
!
Though the report does inot Indicate how Father J.. J
Anthony
Murmu was killed after arrest,
thv r evidences indicate
!
•- uother
---- ? ho w
Father A.Murmu was beaten to death
in
i
-- custody and then
i
moV
h<3 + disd in mlics ^^^9 being in"ihe
mob. mis is the worst part of the whole dastardly crime
/
and warrants nothing short of immediate arrest of the
total police party there under 302 I.P.O. as in th” case
of murder oj Bhim Bingh in Rajasthan to meet atleast the /
j rings oj justice.
!
The press should campaign so that such brutality
should not go unpunished^
Yours Sincerelyj,
A.K.ROY
02.05^ 35
/
'SmS~
road these days. Not even a rickshaw goes to this village now. An
atmosphere of terrir and distrust is prevailing in the entire area.
Any c.iscussion of Banji oncident silences the people.
We contac .d the eputy
\ Commissioner
“
of Sahibganji district.Mr. Bhagambar Prasad and questioned him about the incident of 19th April. He
replied that the Government has ordered a judicial enquiry and that he
himself has formed
n
.+a. Peace committee in Banji Village. He also informed
us that+ the Opposition
leader Mr. Karpoori Thakur has gone to Banji and
has not returned yet. When we explained to him our . difficulty in transport
he provided us with a jeep to go the village. At 3.15
am, we started for
Banji, Sahibganj.
At Banji uanthal wo wont to the house of the Late ex MP.y Father
Anthony Murmu and met his wife Bibina Baskey and their four year old son
Clement Murmu. The Villagers also had collected there and Mr. Karpoori
was conducting his inquiry. As we reached he coled his inquiry and was
returning.
/
/
I
116B
m fik „iH1 otlMt
trust. ProK th. inquhy g cX?
X
^iX
-tn tno norning some tribls from s-niiHh'v 19-4.35 at 8.00 '0 clock
firt wood. While they
rctu-iniX og“hal
r'°^ $o Banji to bring
taon thrice though nobody was woundX ’fXX Goxidaa,?f *iWaw fired at
anonng the villa--rs --d
u J
’/he nevs 01 the firing spread
collected the tribls of thXXcaXv b^V
5001,10 °f Bca^ s^thal
d ecided that a del -XioJ und
X F° d™ ‘ The
^t together
hurnu ox MP. would meet the SCO -rT t’XXsP^^8^11’ X Fathcr Jtathony
ro find out why tribals wore firSaHPlne &t thG Govt’
house
Five persons Father. Znthony Murmi
^•'•u ■nu and Banim
J
Bntnrlm uacurial ooren, hadan Manjhi, Jeta
crowd followed
custody and opened
People died and ninteen were seriously
wounded*
&4ITHOSE WHO JJIgp
Xiii5£2_.?anji
Santhal:(Brother of’X’X'
-------- 2’
M™’ 2*
KmJM
<■ lornur of village pradhan) 3. Ifadu-u murrmi vs n
rz ■,
5. Bhuraia Besra. 6. Tribuvan Ifer-ndi^ v?XX ' Xr-SSM----:“ 4* Takur Tud^
Jillnge Saboya:- 8. ChangedTUdu 9
7* Bana IIuriau,
To, WhSV-Errv>
! ’IUs8o.rtojtod
Ito
shi
Bhadeya,
13. Itawhl Bhodwre, 14. toda femdl,'vuJSo Vldfha^S2^55-®— Kudagu.
TOUTOgD;-
r: SE^^^)25.ESS
XXX >• du^u Hasda (Soboya)
7gglc!-;a;iiHasda(Sardujn) 8. Dhum :.Mrnu(Xre £ndu^ f'nCharJ° Soren(Banji)
O.mnsa Henbrom(MWlCtpuri)
.S^:n Hasd^W^X^XX
(j^Sj^lS^Sorongi-hi)1^^11 ^^^(Sc-boyaJ IG.Chuma murmix
(KodiyaJ.
17. ion Marandi(Bada KCndua) 18.Dasrath Hasda
'
Tribals arc l._1' ,
UTk'hCtP10khi01? of ^Wnns. There is a
i-’ tin-i<d+
•''-'■itiono.l nnoung the tribals of
the area to "0 fishin'-‘
_ lomn., in thls tank every yoar .-tor the Holv fost-i-voi
”But the past. three
years the Governncnt has auctioned out this
?
non-tribals whose sole. : '
- I O1 t
t
^n? thus ^^-i’^-onal rights of the
■tribals are being snatfihed
out of them, inis year one Moti Bha^nt n 4-4 u
contractor has the tank —
on auction. On March 25th 1^^+
a£a.t> a timber
out between the tribals —id th,
n
lant c. quarrel broke
c.nt. the contractor on the question of fnah-iv,
rights' and on the rsane day
the body of Matkv Murmu^of Vin
q f
g
gound floating in the tank,
anger in the entire tribal
contractor in the death of
'We tank near Banji
%
”“p !ct a «>«
X
and .inui cs ctc» also
XiiXXXx
twounding
c w™d nintcon.
to tcach the
-llmg fifteen I
and
brioed oy the Mahajans
1‘- lesson and fired on them
The dead body of Father
"
r ^ithtny
Murnu was not' handed over to his
wife but to a cousin of his who is
■s a C-over nient <onployce in Bha^alpur.
f-yo news of Father Murmu's ■ death
was connuniGated to. his
21 .04.1985.
—j wife only on
Tine limit has not 1.
opinion that inquiry should
11&C
7. The police personnel who fired on the tribals should
be dismissed forth with.
aiS sfl0uld
2‘ TiilTo^^d^ rupGes 0Tie lahh should be given to every
jamiiy oj the persons,
y
(The Govt, has declared rupees five thousand onlul
the amount should be riven immidiatly. (It coultTbe and
o»c“°u
3^
rwts °n
The wounded should be given at least
rupees ten thousand
each.
4^
members of the dead persons' families
shoula be given suitable emploument.
5^ lhe Govt, should take upon the responsibility of freelu
educating the children of the dead verson.
JrecJ-y
6\3JJrlWa1y10f rc7lief only ^9^ sacks of rice and two sacks
ff^al have been given which is negligible. Adequate
relief should be provided immediatly.
The main question is not tribals versus
versus non-tribals but is
a question of dahajan and nolice versus oppressed peonTe.
paVnU
Wit!' the
^fnS'tT
The tribals and entire justice loving neonle demand
that punishment be meted out to the
”
guilty police officials.
* * * *
Circulated by
—
TATION CaHTUS, Gutusai.PO Chaibasa
inar—off 201.
ISI DOCUMENTATION CENTRE,
Post Box no 4620,
Bangalore - 560 046
i(-**** ************ **^*^** ******-«-*************
J
THE BAN'JHI MASSACRE: SOME SEARCHING QUESTIONS
|
****** **************************** *.#.*.£ ***.£***.£*.*.**.*
"The last works of Indiraji: Save the Nation with every
drop of your blood” So says a Congress-I election slogan
accompanying the ’Hand’ painted on a hutment wall at
Bhanji village in Sahibganj district in Bihar. The ful
filment of the 'wish’ was realised in the same village
on last April 19th when the hand(s) meant to protect
the tribal Santals gunned them down in cold blood in
order to protect the interests of an exploiter class.
It was a D-day for the Mahajans of Bahjhi for whom the
’Hand’ was their victory symbol.
The bullets of the police and the pellets of the Mahajans
made a combined streak felling 15 Santals dead and wound
ing numerous others. "It is difficult to say how many
died of police firing and how many died in Dikku (non
tribal exploiter; firing. Many of the tribals are nursing
pellet injuries and the police used only bullets."
In the fast festering state of Bihar the Banjhi massacre
is but another routine exercise of the Bihar police who
have won national and international headlines for using
barbarous methods like the infamous plucking out of
prisoners’ eyes in Bhagalpur. But what makes the bloody
massacre of innocent tribals so atrocious is the calcul
ated and pre-planned way in the administration and the
police acted as the muzzlemen of the oppressor class to
still the voice of those who cried for justice. The
victims include Mr. Antony Murmu, ex-desuit and former
Janata M.P. who, with Madan Murmu, was tortured merci
lessly and gunned down inside the Panchayat Bhavan.
The Troutine exercise1 over, the administration wrote
off the happening as a ’law and order problem’, a facesaving device,
Ever since the Santals cleared the forest in Santal
Sartal
Pargana with their hard labour and made it habitable and
cultivable, fit‘ has been a happy hunting ground for exploiting forces like moneylenders, middlemen,, business men and
unscrupless and corrupt officials.
Thanks to the British colonial administration the Mahajan
class has become so entrenched in the tribal belt. It
is being further strengthened by an unfriendly administra
tive system working hands in glove with the exploiter
class. It is in this light the Banjhi massacre has to be
viewed.
i
r
' Il
108
What happened at Banjhi?
Banjhi is situated at a distance of 16 kins, from the
district Headquarters of Sahibganj. A village with'three
tolas (subdivisions) it consists of about 120 families
out of which about about 100 are Santal families and the
rest non-tribals.
ut of the non-tribal population, leaving out the Harijan
crallies like the pot makers and blacksmiths, about five
fa^1lies
in their hands the total control of not
only the village market but the lives of the tribals in
Motiram Bhagat(and his collaborators) have
established themselves as the self proclaimed represent
atives of the extortionist class. A money lender turned
' of then20rp’- + i PrideS himself as the local president
°t h
Programme and enjoys tremendous clout
with the local administration particularly the local
Congress-I M.L.A. John Hembrom and his brother Seth Hembrom the local Congress-I M.P. Moti and his class have
in their control much of the tribal land and the forest
around the area.Illegal occupation of non-transferablo
tribal land and illegal felling of forest wood in collusion'
with the forest administration are but their stock in trade.
Even the government established fire-wood cooperative is
made to junction as a nonentity thanks to the contrivance
of the mahajan class.
S'1?2
bolloto
just -a stray
18 ”ot --suffered
«oir voloeo fey
The p"t
immediate C3u8e '"!>B 6
or events ov?r the recent
up
According to the local people
two Santai women were
raped and done to death by
unknown
pected the hand of the iwn-triteis miscreants.
in the^oui playf Then
-m . '"11 ^°ul play. Then
on March 9, a Santal forest
was
attacked by the Mahajans for guard, Eric Hansdak' was
reporting
their
illegal
felling of forest wood.
Three.days later a Santal from Sabayya.
a village near
Banjhi was reported missing.
Meanwhile the tribals had been claiming their right to
fish in their community pond.
Community fishing has been
a time honoured right of the . Santal.
But a few years ago
the district administration intervened and began auctioning
-109-
the ponds off to the well to do. That meant depriving
the tribals of a source of income, At Banjhi Moti Bhagat
got the pond on auction. However, the tribals demanded
their right to fish at least once during the year. After
arguments and negotiations Moti yielded but on condition
that they would not move to a particular part of the pond
where, according to him, there'were two very poisonous
snakes. On their fishing expediuion they invariably
moved to the ’prohibited area’ and stumbled on the dead
body of the tribal who had been reported missing for the
last three days.. This created justifiable suspicion in
the mind of the Sentals that in the death of Mantu Murmu
Moti had a hand. Otherwise why should he forbid them
from fishing in that very area where the dead body of
Mantu was discovered ?
Tension began to bnild up. Sensing trouble Moti alerted
the district administration. The Sub-divisional officer
cum magistrate Sri Harinarayan came with a police contin—
gent. Or his arrival the tribals took him to the pond
and showed him Mantu’s dead body and narrated to him the
circumstances in which it was found and the words of
warning by Moti. They also demanded Moti’s immediate
arrest.
But the surprising fact is that the magistrate neither
arrested Moti nor ordered any post mortem of the dead
body on the spot. It remained in the pond for the next
three days floating, stinking and feasted, on by stray
dogs. Only after three days the police collected the
disembered part of the body and took it to Sahibganj.
According to reports the doctor in Sahibganj refused to
touch it because of its foul stink and hence, it was
taken to Bhagalpur, the nearby district where it was
perhaps easier to consign it to the Ganges away from the
searching eyes of the tribals.
The Santals were not to be taken for a ride. In the
events that happened they knew who were the perpetrators
of the crimes and who were the collaborators.
The official inaction and the silent complicity of the
local administration with the exploiters gave the latter
enough elbow room to protect themselves. Moti sent away
his family to an unknown destination. Along with them
went all the silver valuables he had collected as security
from the tribals for a pittance.
of the people hid themselves
The elected
(_ ____ __representatives
x
", Finally the Jharkhand Mukti
from the woes of- the people.
1
* i
-77CMorcha leaders, though they never had any representatives
elected from this area, showed their fellow feeling and
solidarity by conducting a meeting on April 15. They
demanded the arrest of Moti Bhagat and the transfer of
the officer in charge of Borio police station under which
lies Banjhi.
The already enraged tribals had their anger accentuated
by an attempt to sacrifice a tribal at Telo village by
a contractor who was building a railway bridge. Hence,
they smashed some of the contractor^ materials.
Two days later, on April 19 the tribals at Banjhi tried
to carry away some logs of wood piled up in their land.
A Muslim youth, incited by other non-tribals, fired at
them preventing their taking away the logs of wood. The
non-tribals claimed that it was their wood. Meanwhile
the forest guard at Banjhi declared that the tribals
could take away the wood as it was seized from those who
had illegally cut the jungle wood and as it was the tribal
land where the wood was piled they could take them away.
The gun shots terrified the Santals. That afternoon two
Santal women who had gone to the market were insulted
by the non-tribals. There was a limit to harassment.
Drums began to beat calling the villagers together. By
late afternoon, about five hundred Santal men gathered
in their village.
The Subdivisional^Officer cum Magistrate, Harinarayan
o -n Sri. Kinde, a tribal from Chotanagpur
and 4--u~
the -n
D.S.P.
arrived at Banjhi with a large contingent of police
force.
The tribals sought the help of Antony Murmu to lead a
a delegation to the S.B.O. and the D.S.P'. who were at
the Panchayat Bhavan. A delegation of five tribals,
led by Antony Murmu, went to the Panchayat Bhavan.
According to the local people, three of them were sent
away and Antony and Madan, brother of the village Head
roan were allowed entry into the Panchayat Bhavan. What
followed was, according to reports, an inhuman torture
of Antony and Madan from whom the authorities wanted a
statement that ’we are on the warpath1. When the toiturfe
failed to bring out the desired result, they were shot
dead.
F
-77 7Vow the police and the administration required some sort
of ploy to cover up the murder of the delegated. They
waited for any slight provocation from the tribals.
Meanwhile the impatient tribals were at a loss to under
stand the cause of the delay of Antony and Madan
Madan. Thev
moved forward towards the Panchayat Bhavan. That was
enoughfor the murderers of Antony and Madan to cover
up v leir guilt. Soon bullets and pellets were showered
on the crowd felling thirteen people and wounding numerous
others.
Although the S.B.O., also a magistrate, wa
was present
there, no on-the-spot inquest was ordered, Rather the
dead bodies were, dumred into a 1waiting
*’ *
’
truck
and taken
not to the district hospital for post-mortem but to
another district, Bhagalpur. It was reported by the
local people that the police had burst tear gas shells
after the shooting and some others, allegedly non-tribals,
smashed the local post office and set fire to a non
tribal hut to prove that the shooting was caused by
destruction of government property and arson. That done,
soon the administration stated that it had to take extreme
steps because there was a break-down of law and order.
The baffled and defeated villagers bit down their fury
while the bereaved families their painful loss. Out of
fear some had run away to far away villages. When their
men failed to return home the women thought that they
were arrested and taken away by the police. So did the
families of Antony and Madan think.
The incident happened bn April 19'. Two days later
Madan's younger brother had gone to Borio, 15 kms. from
^hlLe talkinS sbout the incident he mentioned
rnat his brother and Antony Murmu were missing and perhaps
they were arrested and taker away by the police. Hearing
this a certain tribal truck driver said that he himself
was asked by the police to drag the bodies of Antony
and Madan into his truck. That was the first time the
villagers came to knovz that Antony ahd Madan, their
delegates who had gone to discuss the cause of the tension
with the S.D.0. and the B.S.P., were butchered inside the
Panchayat Bhavan.
In Bhagalpur, the neighbouring
o district, a hurried nost—
mortem was.done and the authorities V
were in an unusual
hurry to dispose off the dead bodies, They wanted to
consign them to the fury of the Ganges instead of
letting the relatives claim their dead, Meanwhile
someone in Bhagalpur recognised the face of Antony Murmu
and his brother Mr. Benjamin Murmu, a Supply Officer in
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Bhagalpur managed to rush to the spot to get his brother's
corpse. Even there the police showed unusual hurry. When
the body was taken to the cemetery of Bhagalpur Cathedral
forvburial, the police were present till the last
reports have it, four times phone calls came from’the
poiice headquarters asking if the body was buried or not.
The other corpses were thrown into the Ganges dishonouring
the tribal custom of burying their dead.
Even today, days after the spine chilling atrocity, the
tribal village of Banjhi wears a morbid look of despair
abandonment and utter hopelessness. They have no more
confidence in their so-called elected representatives
or in the administration, They know very well whose interests the above mentioned groups protect.
As if to add insult to injury the district administration
, cut off all transport and conveyance facilities to and
from’Banjhi. The villagers cannot get any conveyance to
get to Sahibganj, 16 kms. away or to Borio, 15 kins, away
to buy essential commodities. The Dikku controlled market
does not function any more nor will the people want to
depend on the mercy of the murderers and exploiters.
Even in this dilemma the district administration has not
provided any relief to the people by way of opening of
some shops and marketing facilities for the affected
people.
The cruel hand of the administration struck again by
placing the headquarters of the judicial enquiry commiss
ion 16 kips, away at Sahibganj whereas the people have a
right to have the enquiry done on the spot.
Only the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha has raised their objection
against having the enquiry commission
ssion’s head (quarters at
Sahibganj. On May 26 the. Jharkhand1 M.
Mukti Morcha (JMM)
organised a condolence meeting ih which
--h this was one of
their demands. It is s^^i^i
surprising that apart from the JMM.
no other party or organisation
c.
u
’
or .
elected
representatives
ever thought of condoling the bereaved.
----- . -i . The M.P. and
M,L.a, , both Congress-I, ]have stayed away from there till
this day. It was unfortunate
that" Mr- John Hembron, M.E A.,
. .■ 'himself a tribal, fis
said to have remarked to some journalists that whatever welfare
- --- - programmes are to be taken up.
at Banjhi or <other
" __ villages
_1
of his constituency, they should
go to the non-tribals.
----The implication is evident.
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THE WHAT AND WHY OF BANJHI
What remains after the Banjhi massacre are a few wearchine
questions that need to he answered by the administration g
Why was there no timely post-mortem of Manto Murmu and
why was the body allowed to be rotten and eaten by stray
dogs for three days after the S.D.0. 's-attention was
drawn to the fact of Mantu's unnatural death?
Why was_not Moti arrested when there
stantial evidence
------ thatj he was behind
wo
was enough circumthe
-hj murder of Mantu?
Why were the dead bodies of those killed
in firing taken
Why was no inquest ordered
the |p°tod®spite the Presence of a senior magistrate,
Why were the dead bodies dumped i_.
I. the Ganges and not
into
handed over to the relatives for the
..—j last rites according
to the tribal custom?
Why was the reported bursting of tear■ gas shells after
the shooting and killing of innocent victims ?
Why were Antony Murmu and Madan Murmu tortured and gunned
down when they had gone unarmed and as delegates to plead
with the S.D.O. and the D.S.P.?
How come that the board indicating 'Post Office'
as freshly planted there as having not a scratch is seen
or trace1
offin^i6 Qn,lt’
as the authorities claim
ffice was burnt and smashed by the tribals'?’ the past
It is
surprising that after such an alleged operation
n the board
was not hurled under the rubble hefn 0peratl0n
rubble heap.
tribesmen, that: "What could a tonvue I- f °Wri innoceri't
°”e;
his knee ls
atrocity
J atroclt
^?
»!■»
What expianation is there for finding in the bodies of
X
b"llet8
pelletE
PonoXea
-114-
“e IupeIlItin°d“Itreof°Sl?cfe“:nSiry
and
particularly
the
names.of Antony Murmu and Madan Murmu?
explains the mention of Antony Murmu ? "Even if one
quence what prompted the officers to as a man of conse—
to the dead body of Madan Murmu'?" ~ specifically refer
Does not the circnm—
------- ? Can1!
certainly some
play
lega
- ■
had gone
What does the report that
Peast seven of the victims
did not.have bullet or pellet injuries
” mean?
could they have died if they were not tortured How else
and done
to death?
a1??03' ?rt?er PhhlBbment
the tilblli
on
the tribals by cutting
from and to
denying them all avenues to get the necessities of life?
SibLit tha^ the enc'ulry. commission has to sit in
" “e
Sc1!8!? oppr
have the enquiry conducts en°?he IpIL*18™ 3
t0
The most important question of
is
rar tho
of all
all the
is that
that
cause of th0 atrodtloe leading
BaJjhl ijcldent
be detected and solved with
with aa mere judicial enquiry?
WHAT DOES BANJHI MEAN?
toI’ixlstStI“Iht!JrbK110£ ?£e aeBp MlaiBe that is made
Pgvejtyai?
choice elSelisS1” MeMS Se?"" ”y the ael“^ate
:BS "e" 8;a their clan who Jrl aW LIporid'bv
■ mahajans_, the businand unjust administration, barring a -PP°rt-ed j a willing
very few good-natured
oiiicers.
One great asset
patient nature.
SIS
Sit
t o the extreme.7r are never on
i
Offe”sl'''> ™l«s provoked
115 -
The great Santa 1 Hui (liberation struggle) of 1855 was a
historical struggle of a people under extreme suffocation
caused by the exploitation o^ money lenders and landgrabbers
with the active cooperation of the British colonial adminisuraTiou,
The money lender system, encouraged by the Britishers
in order uo facilitate rent collection, has ever since
been eating into the very marrow of the tribal life
When they had converted the forest into cultivable and
abitable lard with their hard work, the^mahajans stepped
m with their crooked and blood suck device. And if todav
most of the land is in the hands of the clever mahaians
and other dikkus it is very much so with the collaboration
of an unfriendly and unjust administrative system which
does not function in favour of the tribals.
If the subsidies, loans and other financial facilities
earmarked for the tribal areas do not reach the tribals
but are blocked and diverted, the hungry tribals are
forced to run the money-lender for loans. There is everv
indication that the unfriendly administrative system
manned
by non
—tribals
and illiteratekSd
a few band picked
tribals
work notmostly
for the
benefit
of the
poverty
stricken Santals but largely for the exploiter class.
If Santal Pargana remains backward with poor transport
and communication, roads filled with pot holes, with no
irrrgatior nacilities, if the tribals are sinking more and
more into t.ic quagmire of illiteracy, ill health due to
lack oi medical facilities, it is not their choice. It
is the deliberate choice of an unjust and exploitative
system that caters to the oppressor class.
When people are becoming conscious of their
of affairs, their
their being
exploited and marginalised
belng'-exproi^J-'aS
begin to ask for their rights.
’ makes them face stiff
5- T'
This
opposition from the guardians and patrons of an unjust and
oppressive system.
Standing for their rights, raising their voice against
injustice is dubbed violence while, the (extortionist violonce perpetuated on the silent masses is3 nevei’ considered
violence.
and ask ior
for rood
food H
~ - with
bime+«e are hungry UIJU
we are
fed
When we cry out against the injustice
the bullets of the
- JJU&b-Lce of the
-J of the
mahajan are showeredi on
on us
us. when
” P° 1GtS
we
want
to
claim
back '
our land illegally appropriated
we are chased like dogs,
-1161 V
down", says Sibu Soren the veteran
Sadhu like leader of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha who^e
•wn father was killed by the bullets of a mahajan
?herP
are clear proofs to what Sibu says.
in 1979 when the
tnbals wanted to get back their land illegaljy
t”ypo!Lloee
at the -RlnAk Sr-982a * ^laJuri when the Santals gathered
of drouth? Lif
dRmardinS immediate implimentation
X shots
S
Proe™cs what they got in reply were
gun shots. There were other such incidents of police
firing at Saraiyahat in 1980 and at Mukurtopa in 1982.
When the exploiter wants to make his position secure he
seeks the-help of the administration and he readi^ gets
°f Banjhi> who could make the whole dist
rict administration and the elected representatives dance
in th!sftufhaian eJcePtion- A few such ?fotis
iL + h^+t b 1
h3VR established themselves so well
that not even a fly moves without their consent.
or transferring
'
recurring
Banjhis and Palajuris as long as the exnloitatTve
’ system
.
The
squarely
faced.
The violence perpetuated by the oppressor class creatine
violent convulsions among the victims has to be ’‘ *
eliminated
if justice is to be seen anywhere.
Text By:
CIRCULATION
ONLY
Fr.P.A.Chacko sj,
Daharlangi,
Sahinganj Bist,
BIHAR.
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I SI DOCUiaENTATION CENTRE
Post Box 4628
BANGALORE - 560 O46.
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Post Box 4628,
Bangalore - 560 046
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30th June 1985
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Dear Friends,
Kindly find
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In the fast festering state of Bihar the B^FJHI massacre is but
mother routine exercise of the
polloe
™„ ^tll.i
ant. nternatxonal headlines for using barbarous method- This ioe.ee .otuly by Pr. rjtCheoko e3,
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enclosed the following documents :
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2 • 2SS
^WIT^X^v.mtj^LACT J98^.
This is the reproduction of Mr. V .M.WKUW .} Adviser f Pucl*>s
ifiterpretaixon on iGrrorost and Disruptive act 1985
• ,-d
in 'Radical Humanist' June 1985, issue.
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Zt..-QonojJEi’inc- space
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■JiScTT1^ of space is not just economic; it is also
po-j-ncal, b cause ox the prestige with which the gen-iral public
-o^’oHh3 1Ve?ent c°™ected ^ith sPawe. Theis document Lower
’
^eStl°nS llke
i^no is man? Doos he
-oiaina-ue or does he pasoively accept this domination?-!.
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4•
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CQMmmigS__^7D THE FUTURE OF LATIN Afi.t; T:: a
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INP-Ct in Latin America. Most people probably think or relate
- wuen religious end the left as non existent or antagonstio. In
JniS has not feeen the case. Radical i3as and movements
u-^lly has a religious form or atl ast strong religious overtone.
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With best wishes
ISI DOCUMENTATION CENTRE.
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,,, ja-nn,,, ■mir^airaw
COMMUNITY HEALTH CELL
326, V Main, I Block
Koram.ngalj
Bangalore-5§gg34
4
India
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156
a
Vju
1/N£t|uak
THE other day I read an interview with ah‘Indian doctor
settled in USA who earned $ 100 an hour. He said he could
never return to India because of the excessive disparities
between the rich and the poor here. "If I had lived here from
the befining perhaps I would have fot used to it but now I
donf think I can face such e cploitation".
i
I suppose running away from it is as good a defence
mechanism as any but the thousand like him, who can't get
away form it. have learnt another trick of warding aff guilty
Cultivated in them almost to perfection os the art oY shutt
ing out the poor from their consciousness.
AND ill this agreeable exercise they seen to recive the
whole-hearted cooperation of a government that is moreeagcr
than they are to push the poor out of sight to the fringes of
the city.It is quite possible, ifone is rich and living in a
city, to avoid all contact with extrene poverty, except for
the occasional annoyance of a beggart silently thrusting his
face at you when your car stops at a traffic intersection.
THE media, too, are coo perative, bolo tting out that other
reality unless some especially grisly incident compels their
attention for a moment or two, before it passes on to other,
more worldly matter.
COMPARE, for instance, the media's reaction to last month's
air crash with the impassivity with which they reported an
accident that occurred on April 5, when more than 40 persons,
mostly migrant labourers form Bihar and UP, travelling on the
roofs of two overcrowded Amritsar-bound train hit the scaffold
ing erected over Yamuna bridge between Sarsawa andKakanaur
in UP, and were smashed to death.
&
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The comparison seems unfair because while only 40 people
died in the trail} accident, ^29 people perished in the Jumbo
crash. ± .
157
i
lit is another matter that nearly 350 people die every year and
equ'al number are crippled in train accidents, most of them
caused, according to the railways' own admission, by "human r
error and faulty equipment."
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But what I am roffering to is the feeling with which the
media reported the air crash, 7infusing a rTre sense of
poignancy and personal loss intQ
L: V the reports of the tragedy. I:
Thus,. for
nearly
a
v .. ----- -g a month after the tragedy, ”the media still
iverwhelm us. with
reports
about the bereaved relatives, the
.
x
-------------coffins arriving, even informing us of the many dreams and
vic'Ltms that were never realised.
lhe ^eath Oj 329 is now just a faceless nuiaber to anyone who
read a newspaper, or has acess to a TV or Radio set. But of
co^ern> cs intimate as the child's teddy bear we saw
bobbing gently among the wreckage.
What I wonder at is how the media, capable of so much
emotion, renained unmoved by that other tragedy. They gave x us
facts, of course. That the dead were all labourers travelling
from v'L1lcges m Bihar and UP to seek employment in Punjab
uring the harvest season; that they were travelling on the roof
top because the coaches were overcrowded; that they met their
oeath because it was too dark to see the scaffolding erected
'
that morning to paint the bridge; and that there were pieces of
flesh and blood splattered all over the trains. But with ibhat
"professional" detachment III
If we are interested enough in the dream of the 14-years^.old flying
to India to learn Odissi but instead plunged to
her
dath. then why not the dreans of the men hurtling perilously
.
into tne drah night? Dreams of the wages they would earn in a
mythical land of plenty that would perhaps free them forever
from the clutches of their landlords and moneylenders. And if
the media can spare precious space to recount the story of
those saved by some last-minute hitch from travelling on the
i'll~fated plane, what about the fate of those others survivors
who eacaped death only to fall prey to the "Hawks" lyina in wait
for them in Punjab ?
As they do every year according to one study0 "The rHAWKS9
at Ludhiana railway station consisting of the tecket collectors
and railway police are on the wait to plunder the innocent
1abourers. As soon as the arrival of the trains is announced,
they take their positions. There is almost one ticket collector
standing near each compartment along with policemen to get hold
of the labourers who are supposed to travel without tickects.
The labourers are required to cross overboard to the exit gate.
They are also checked at the entrance of the overboard. Then the
last point of checking is the exit gate where alongwith the
ticket collectors stand a few railway policemen. The Labourers
are usually in small groups and each group has a headmen.
i
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Tjet'e are several instances when the labourers holding genuine
alS° held
the tich3t collectors and policemen
and. asked tp pay the cost of the travel again. During each
holdofAfTo Poejn
j.o^MaT'chhto the middle of April they get
th fn
i
laboureJsjach night and extract money from
them. Such la bourers who have money with them get freed after
Ptoy\he nointm°nUrnt
Ot^s
thoroughly hatched even
the obieri or { mak\n9 them naked. Those without money become
t-+fAale t0 the emP10yers y>tio are assembled in large
numbers wa th thear trucks, tractors and buses. The labourers9
are sold to these employers at various rates even up to Us. 60
P^rn^nr,°U^,er+l TheJ.^^crs are also beaten on the railway
station by the policemen. If some labourers refuse to go with
empd.oyers to whom they are sold they are thoroughly beaten and
forcibly taken into the vehicle wqiting outside". (Manjit
singh,K. Gopal Iyer: Migrant Labourers in Rural Punjab).
The media gave no hint of this guture that awatted the '■
tail mishap survuvors. And while it has made us intimate with
the faces of bereft relatives out there somewhere in Bihar and
up who are still waiting perhaps for their husbands to teturn
home if not with the promised pot of gold, at least with a '
transistor radio.
But the media did not bring the same emotion to both accidents
not PuiltV °f the callousness that the railways
exhibited all through the incident. The sheer contempt for the
l\ves of the peasants did not stop With causing their death. It
that the authorities neglected to remove the
scaffoldings in the night although they were aware of the
dangeit it presented to passangers inevitably travelling in the
rooftop of trains. They seei/isd to have st-ar'ted a perfunctory
operation to halt trains and remove rooftop travellers but
soon gave up, either from disinterest or because it was too
much work. Nor did they both’er to fix some warning light on the
scaffolding that would have warned the victimes of the danger.
A prater at the station immediately after the bridge reported
sighting a dead body but the authorities ignored the report. I
Sven after the second train passed the scaffolding and another
score or so bodies were smashed the train driviers and railway
authorities remaninde unawarw of the accident, even though the
rule books says that trains passing low overhanging bridges
must slow toa crawl, especially x if they are carring passenges
pn thir roof.
Neither there they more solicitous after the acctdent,
was discovered. Medical help was so long tg coming that some z
more victims succumbed to hkir-'■ injuries.
The stand the railways took on the accident was in
keeping with their general attitude: the commissioner of
railway safety declined to hold an enquiry because the passan
gers were travelling unauthorisedly not tickets for the
journey•
-159-
A Government which
lakhs in recovering the
f black bok" from the sea 9spent
had no funds to spare to conduct a
sy tematic search for the
or dosend photographs
of the dead to villages I
.,u th8*™0,victims
states for identification,
And while coffins bedecked iwith flowers are flowers are flown
td India xadd
ha
over to.
>■,
, 7nded
.
^o. the relatives with all pro ver
ceremony^ f
the boaies of the migrant labourers were heaped toga:
getherin
the mass crenation*
of a voluntary"a~gencyT''^'
‘'' An" that t0° because °f
charity
Hjdw receptive the authori ties arc to the needs o f
ff°+rpr,1'Sl.hepV1'deil:tJ fpp- the steps the railways took immediately
after the accidents Instruction were issued to nrevent roof—ton
travel and publicity was given to the hasards of doing so/
P
Offenders would be prosecuted and Jailed. As if the passengers
travelling on the roofs fvv the adolescent thrill of 'it!
Hot^a word-was mentioned about running special trains to
PeUMminad^
have automatically
n/
p Strangely enough, the railways routinely
y
run special trains for the summer vacatiohs»
It follows without saying that when
the railways talks
of improvements, as it is doing Just now,what it really'means
is to adda little more compfort for the middle-classes such'
as a fancy variety of new mealsserved on the train in
hygienic foils, rather than invest in manning the vast
mxmwTugcxfkxnumber if unmanned level crossings that lead veonle
to their aeath as regularly as clock work.,.
SOURCE: ^^^a_Reddyi^Ma^nstreg :m}__J_uly_2_Oi!__1_^85z__p^.8 to 9.
Pdfpfpppfx.
OD Od
‘~2£—Only
ISI documentation centre
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x
--------------------- —-—
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agitation in
r
f
t
t
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t
j.
Gujarat, recently, has been very much in the i
news. Behind the
violence which has erupted in and engulfed the
•J
for several
months there are issues that are common to most state
other states
in India.The present article c<omprehensively surveys the various
positionsjtakcn within and outside Gujarat and makes a critical
assessment of them. The author, Prof. Metha teachoT
---at B.K.
School of management, Ahmedabad.
issufi1?? yesent agitation in Gujarat started on
on TV
February 20 on the
-4 Currently the
Castes, 14% for Sohedulod T-r-ih
?25?rising
for Scheduled
SX°v£c“‘s-
eatiomly backed 2S2
So sT l^° f°r thG socinHy and edu°
January W, iSTto
Castes from io/to 2^
Sovernment decided on
°the" Backward
upper castes who have opposed reservation‘o/ST
enrafed tilG
and efficiency and have asked f or
t 6 iSSU6S °f merit
system for EEC and some have domnnri a
°f the reservation
even for SC/ST-an ^oa where the goJemSn? Srno'say/0861’^1011
Chairmanship of Justice^R^BL^ii/’l’gYr’to'^'id C^iQadon
aowptea It.
SX°“tS0 ovrp-
The Co«,ls'Bion
the
"““llr
and recommended 1C0 reservation in inS 82/QGtes/classes/groups
groups known as Other BaSd Castes
.
^cation for these .
onally backward castes were not included i^th00^1^
?ducati“
report and they represented that
the Commission's
The Government of
injustice was done to them.
known as Rane Commission in °981 ° "to^on^d
second Commission
the socially and education'lliv
1 ell in the catefory of
cohesion Ltaltgr
R“e
went beyond its terns of rofernnn
0 , her 1983,
The commission
18% reservation for the OBC on the Ssirof^in?64/116 in°rease of
not on the basis of ongfoc
CoBC^n Xe^SK1
£ mcone/occupation and
18^-a- S^XSonX^0^
the
and SrSaXdn^tlhe°SSlSe W
^iShed
after the opposition partSs Xi X7
PUbliC °nly
and not before? Ifr^SolSki XXr ? a®lta?ors raised hue and cry
required a long t^
-148-
Gujarat is not one of the progressive states as far as reservation for the Backward castes is concerned, As against 10% resort
vation for the OBC (wo will use the tern EBCi-Educationally-andsocially backward oastes-as an alternative
tern)
>
-■) in Gujarat, Andhra
Pradesh has 25^, Bihar 24^, J
J ano.
and jK 42%, Kamatak 50%, Kerala 40%,
Madhya Pradesh 29%, Tanil Nadu
/i,, 50%. and "Maharashtra has 14% reservations for OSC* Even U.P. is nore progressive than Gujarat-"in"this
respect having 15^ reservation
—i for the OBC. Pano Connission^ reco«
Emendation to increase the ireservation for OBC fron the current 10%
to 28% was not unreasonable. In response to an i ‘
agitation by the
upper castes in Gujarat, Mr.Solanki took a decision
—i on March 16 to
suspend,. then enchanoed''OBC
quota
for’ aa year.
year, The agitators are
,
---*
aggressively denanding that the supension for a year is not enough.
The enhanced quota nust be
-j pornanently cancelled.Now, ah inportant thing to note here is that a larce nunlnr nf
unfillS Infthls^rfS ^dic“o-in the reserved categories renain
oS of the
Wlfldled <iuota goes to the unreserved category,
thl fe% aro ?ffrGrTa^°^SeatS f°r SC/ST/OBC in Gujarat, not noro
anpiy shows:
f
Sa by those categories as the following table
Seats
reserved
Seats
filled
Engineering
1982- 83
1983- 84
1984- 85
633
680
439
269
320
Medicine
1982- 83
1983- 84
1984- 85
183
165
175
100
100
Year
250
69
% filled
Ideal
12.17%
14.09%
16.09%
31%
31%
31%
16%
16%
11.09%
31%
31%
31%
T^e i^telleo‘fcuals in Gujarat ore divided on the issue of the
criterion for reservation for OBC
(-- and oven for SC/ST. What should
-- --.• reservation?
incone 0^%^
^0°-°
—occu^tion-cun- -j caste?
2. C.ASTE, CLA£S,A1W_ RESERVATION ?
The Rane Connission has reconnended incone/occuwtion
criterion
accepts caste as the basis of backwardness it
* I
syotoa ««1
the traditional casto ayatoZ no aor^oXts
0?
of parity and pollution which forc'd
BrofhT P ntO sys?cn havo no relevance today even in our the hasis
villages.
2To±.I.P.Desai who was a nenber of the Rane Connission was the
nam propounder of these ideas and his thinking is said to
largely influenced the Rane Connission Report.
~ 149 Dr.Ghanshyan Shah in his article on "fnc-tn ' fn
in Econonic and "Political Weekly (January 19
^SerYation "
extrenely
apolorotic
wn-v
k
^a.rj
13^5
J
writes
m an
Prof.I.Z DlsaJ^S
teacher
he argues, "He (jfr T p
1^s P03^* very clear when
the prevailing identity of <7^
°S
W en0Uffh Mention to
caste as weU ^^tvJe
the neubers of the sane '
He also fails to relate his ob-^vnti U?al structure and processes,
to the social groups XtS tJS tf b T “
.historical context
forces." I ag^ee vbh Dr ShS 4 + balcnco against the secular
rooted that it cuts 1^0^
ld°a °f oaste is so deepcaste. A person-foe^ Xeue sZoX f^at-’ioations within a
belonging to his oaste r^hnr%^TV J for ^10 poor persons
and dying nenbers of other castes
Dr
starvin5
says, "These intellectuals onm<(f
**w ch puts it .well when he
■they are perturbed by the "poverty of "thl C’’SGd ^OS3rTOtions because
than by the poverty of th-Abno™ ii
°aSt0 brethern rather
of the lower castesabnornally large nunber of the nenbers
that &
XSaSS
^ut in social in justice > The
to hiD, io
and
ncre econonic baolwardness. It is Jfr
2h X.rt.
Ppre Gcononic backwardness
of reservation
S“?m° 4-justice and not
isjytro Sheth’s article
:s
5?h^
al
t
&
:
a
oosX
’X «
of
*“
menu with the aid of reservation,
rosprviHr>< the process oZdisSe^aSon^f"*
thm’-n nno-i4j
zauioa- the process of
their caste structure
is
speeded
un
~ ‘ ---- —
—
j
.-is
speeded
between the caste and occupation up.
st7+ The
t concurrent
C°11?UTrGnt relationshin
relationship
and S2X
occupation starts breaking down.’t 1I Wi
believe
that tho„ la „„ such
’«
autonacity,
since
*•ueneve
the occupation and ircono
'
’
u' c identity transcends
the feeling o? Z ircono
XuS identity
ttv’71 and
7 d°CPly rooted
versus they1 or r
enpathy for the backward -rdnoor
“ Ve~then',
Sheth's
-- and poor of Tt
the society
i.ii will b0 shared by
nany progressive intolleotuals
®oclcty
It isofonly
when
ostracised sections join the p-occ-s
0-'y-W
?°+ the
thC deprivod
, the caste systen loosens up its 77
rut^'1 su'+ffornation that
that if only the lower castes -+77* Shcth 3 contention
special privileges, the hold of~eastern on sociX^^
autonaSically is intellectually a hasTcZS^
The Rane Conuission by reconnending the incone/occupation
criterion for deternuning OBC is violative of the spiri? of our
Constitutione
troatnent to s
classes
hundred .. .............................
-Prof. Mukund Trivedi ond Prof
wij-to in The Tines of 7
nc.iathe
(May 30) m no uncertain terns that
"It is our contention that
h^patlo^^
oStSlSy^^loXS^^
basis of occupation/incone
true spirit of the relevant
unambiguously sustainable . constitutional provision nor is it
- 150 -
XS
is .... n - tho vcry fact that the
uncertainly about the constitutional
Of UonUfyinPasniij;;
--- 5 on tho basis of its
reoonnendod criteria” *
An unresolved problem bothers
persons in Gujarat. What
about those persons in EBC or oven many
SC/ST who have taken on ndv^-ntnr?'O
Of reservation in education <
a ni/^h income level ? In o
Should too
preferential troatnent in adnission to -J himself quit rich ~et a
®ta5e,®nould 'tbe society toll tho rich a medical college ? At what
among the reserved categories
Preferential
far
no
Should
L a +
i1 tloatl:lont only
only onco in life Or f- - ---- 1 a person f;et
as many tires as the
A Nationai icvei dGbata ia
-- -j necessary to resolve
."XJ’XS i" ^’T"0?4 3ob=-
In the following part of this article I will
be nore nundane and
discuss the possibilities of different a-<
SoS“ t.0 1“TC
«>»
gencios/parties/persons who
Bithlo;
—i into a coiununal
HISTOKX .OF CO WOITZT., 'CONFLICTS:
.
Everybody in Gujarat asks thintercaste conflicts to turn into7 sane question: What caused the
cormunal riots
? The Navniran
riovenent ia 1974 clinnxirls in thc ovcrthrow
of
chinanbhai
Patel’s
r-imstry one. rhe dissolution of tho legislative
assembly
did
not
turn connunal-r.The anti-reservation aovendnt in 1Q81
1~c,+’rx1;]C' n dld not. also turn cormunal while- tho - I which was nainly
current agitation
socially
becano
buc
^JJ-y backward castos
Muslin shoppers rSsJ. tX
°f ^edabad,
hhnedabad bandh. Since then life in Guih J J
? “ rosPonso to
wake of cormunal tension and confiscations.^
eC0Q° niSerablc iri
The current agitation is anti-poor. It is
of thp violent reactions <of the- privileged and one noro illustration
propertied upper caste
persons in India when their
:os ?rG thr?atoncl
acting on behalf of tho* poor privily
fin
tho Govcrnnont
--J poor. In India
the governnent and police
crushinthe
nn
co
°
often
used
to seeing
police
crushing
agent of the rich. I
aroly do
"c findtherh
h™ bChalf °f
as ' '
against thc progressive -cvcrn^nt tCX^^^^ups fighting
nook. Really speaking tho present-'-1-v Cuhr ,J'ifcnc- thc P°or and tho
araist the upper castes attchtihhf Gujarat ^vornnont is a >robol'
upper castes have bccom ncrvoS tth° 8tatus
conflicts, tho uolico wore not with th r
a11 SUCh Pprevious
revi°us
protection their housingsoo^b f- .
h
wlthout «io police
slun dwell rs surrounding thenffhny^ofhh^b^i?00tG<:1 by tIlc
castes and f r the forct ^ire' tho nidr L S belWcd to the lower
hhmodabad have realised thot thhh
w
upper castes in
silence as in 1981 agitations but th, arl;j®ns.Can be suppressed into
151
Thc
was ioud and Clear. The EBC seen to be saying- to the
Uc are traditionally militant people though we do not net as ono
ourU-iu^XVwn
thCwe wil1 l^t your property surrounded by
’ ..Y? ar.G s1101111 because government is fighting on our behalf,
If the conflict .bu'couG more explicit, you have arms and money while
we Have nothin.? to lose c.
themselves -sufferin? from
s wS^s?jlx?£:0
oonsoiousnoas and there Is no »iJo8pr„a 'olsos-b.scO oovjsont'„hLh .
unites
allTT the. . poor an^. the • suppressed:
together
-i
* —
—< ~-■■‘■'-'•x- <» JBf^ain tlio EBC looli
clown.upon Harijans as much as, or even more than
^Ch aSj ?r eVCn U°rC tllGn’ th0 UppGr castes d0
in 1981 the ESC had persecuted nany Hhrijans in street fights in
^Uincclabad •
jic.
iho anti reservation novenent in Gujarat started on
on Edbru.
February 20
when the students led by the Zkhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishd
- -- ancl "the
tV°EB0 nnSriatl01\nainCC\£’' protest
the enhanced quata for
t_x Lie. On January 10, Mac.havsmh Solanki, tho chief Mnistor of
Oujarat, has announced ah increase rf W
in the reservation for Otlrr
Bacicward^ Castes. Mon y_ ar an cd that this increase was dec^ar# to win
the Election for the Legislation
a
__i assembly
on March 5 qnd it so
happend that the Congrcss-I led by Mr,» Solanki secured an unprecedented
Victory in the elections, r
.
ThO- election
results surprised everybody
including the Congress-I which
not; ina^inod such a massive victory
- had
-- —
that got then more thann eighty
percent
seats in
n
- the
--o assembly. The
Opposition was completely
<
-■ ■ - shacked
and both the Janata and the BJP lost
very heavily and unsportivcly
.Two days agter the election, the
a; ilntion was revived on March 7. Mr. Solanki got nervous and sus
pended tho enhanced OBC quota for one year on March 16. Enboldcned by
Ir. Solanki(s nervousness, the agitators asked for the abolition of
all reservations and cave-a call for /Jimedabad Bandh on March 18coi-mungl riots started then in 2ihiiCdabad and elsewhere and are still
ontinuing at this writing on May JO though their fury wused end
wanes everyday.
y
^_22®®y^_C01JFLIGTS-TnE ROLE OF THE jaTTI-SOCIAL ELBIEJTS:
There arc various theories put forward to explain the eruption
ox communal riots in the midst of an antireservation agitation Almost
everybody agress that antisocial elements have participated in’the
tiotsin a big way. From this nany have concluded that they have started
the connuna 1 rampage. According to this theory a new end powerful
rich class of smugglers and bootleggers has emerged in Ahnedabad. -s in
many major cities of India. There are both Hindu and feslin elements
in tins class. What is worse, these criminal elements are organised on
conmunalbasis. These antisocial elements are respected leaders in their
couinnibios in times of crisis since they protest their localities
frying communal riots. They ore strong because of their muscle power
ana thoir links with politicians of all the parties. It is hypothesized
thou the liquor tragedy in Almodabo.d on March 1J in which 22 persons
died through the pousionous liqour provoked a
police drive against
taom who thenturned to communal violence to divert pooplo's and
police’s attention elsewhere.
- ITS:tto/Sor? I1Klia.Jn
is theory am. writes,
Of
editorial of Kay 17th scons t subcribe to
'However justified their grievances about tho
P011C“’ thoJ 0h“M
™t hS "iia
c j. ' booGlu;./ urs have taken an advanta^oK of the agitation ropoateciy to incit savage connunal clashes in order to divert the
attention oi the authorities free their nefarious nctlviUcs<
^.?erC
procoSE has Kono, deeper Ud richer) because oh pro
hibition. The real poworholders in the low-caste locales seen to
. o ie goondas protected by tho politicians. The Tinos of India
in a ’very furious
‘
need writes once again in its editorial on May 28
” Yet the outbreaks of violence continue unabated,. The reasons are
plain to see. For years no ninistry in Gujarat has done anything worth
^hilc to check the conergencc
--of arned gangs of smugglers, bootleggers
and nusclenon in the state
-■t,
r
“
T
—
“
capital,
Baroda,Surat and oth-.r cities.
Indeed, ■p anics to political pairongc
and protection, they have continuod to proliferate
and
flourish.
.
. ,
,,
J O^gciuiseCi. on conEiunnl or 0081)0 lines
thcY
«’
3Winto cnefray at the slightest whiff of tho trouble and ’
slug ot 4.-out anong
thenselves
------- }has
cr been
wi’th going
the security
Thc p^oSded
fintiSen «nni°
n . ..
on sinceforces.
March has
hen anplo oppurcunities to indulge in rioting’ lnn-H-nr,.
i
nurder. The nanos and whereabouts of alnost all the gauge leadeS'-and
their principal collaborators are well known to the iocal police".
There is a lot of truth in the contention that the anto-cocinl
denents have grown rich and powerful and have the
politicians. I also belivo that they participate ■’ pnironagc of the
a big way but I.do not think that they are capablein ofconnunal
startin-riots in
g a riot
and continuing it for such a long-period. ”
I
also
do
not
subcribe
view that the govornnent, oven though its existence is at’st-ko to the
----------- CJ,U o UatJXU ,
powerless or unwillijg to arrest il_
f
sraKo is
^chese foonclas. Several hundreds of then
were apprehended
•
. and arc behind the bars
■'now • True, the anti~soci n 1
elements nay incite
eiolencs but tho following facts cannot be overlooked:
1 ) They lose their business
2) Many of then--have boex.u■ when the- city is distrubod.
’ ncro cerebral rj?.d loss physical.
fhcykill
one another in
, ,
wariar<. out they are afrid fn
^XSoSnreigSl:" in the Ordinary tr0UbleS witli
law-abociin^ citizens ♦
3) S74nay
nastot
rdi5ovtG4
n-an
the connunal violence
participate
in
and^ ;
above
is too
stn-r-tas statedVt
ovo it
11 ls
to° nu°h to think that they cm
-- --prolonged
! aln
SUChi a prolon
^d connunal violence in tho
absence of strong predisposing ffactors, forces and
notivations. One strong factor,f jfiigeinst then is that they
arc organised on caste and connunal lines and the
couriunal
violence bring tut tho worst in then.
5 ._COMMUNAL VIOLENCE - THE ROLE OF THE OPPOSITION ?
Then -there, is a conspriracy theory to cxnln-ir> ■Hi
violence. First let us discuss the conspiracv thobvh°. °0™al
the opposition political parties and loadSs^ IccZin^g Ss^03
the opposition parties were shocked by the olceWon dofeS on
Sdi±tlvCr° 30
■ T
frUStrated
tW helped the citato
T ■
■
>
*
.
- 153 -
None of the opposition political parties have declared their stand
poml^itv Ifr-ho7f^°n P°iiC^ ThGy
that th°y Kil1 lose a11
oppositiS
« n +na
a"alllst
poor. The two staunchest
opposition parties in the state are BJP and Janata and thev hove h«r.u
iiol^V0021 °'\0Ut th° policc-roProssion thene. Ahnedabld has seen
violence fron people as well as police but the opposition parites have
taken a very strong stand against Madhavsinh Solanki's Police. In
inportent area in the heart of the city is Khadia and it has always
been a strong base of BJP and os traditionally anti-Muslin Mr A F
Bordhan,national Socl.ctsxy or the CBI «ho rtjtod ItaSdnS^ori
llko th°.JBJr8tS ’“dJ” ? •*•*»«”* °“
17, ■Connunal loreoo
.
. c
ilSS
thc Janaat-c-Islaxii lUvo boon responsible for
infcSS"
£ SSor?-Gh an anti-rcs^va'fcion citation into a connunal
Son^L; S’tini^or
?
Gen allC™ th0 °^ositi°n parties
iron tine to tine for inciting connunal distrubances in the city. It
ninistrvVto ^11
° °Ppositpn Pities not only want the Solanki
thev cZ *• t
/ k° Un °nfi t0 i70t thc Ass^bly dissolved so that
th?y ": ’ ct n 5CC°nd chance at the polls. BJP has a disciplined cadre
a’1?
a
omnance in the niddle-class localities in Ahnedabod. The ‘
n dele and upper castes are known for thoir hostile attitudes towards
loc4 crowds
Tho BJP1 hfls a str°nC capabilityin addressing ‘
BJP^td Zs! h
t language which can excite then to a high t>itch. Yes,
BJP and RSS have ocen traditionally anti-Muslin in Aimedobod but to
accuse then of starting connunal disturbance on such a Iw.^ scale is
to attribute onnipotcnce to then. It will bo unfair to think S
they can stop one. start riots at will. Sinilarly the opposition
of weakcS™ the'so/0?
;ituation of connunal riots instead
i weakening tne Solanki govc-mnont strengthens its hand. Their bait
3-s the intcrcas.cc serif o and not the' intcrco: nunal violence which politically loads then nowhere.
The opposition -parties have argued that it is the Congress
governnont itself which has started the connunal riots in order to ’
divert the attention of the people fron the anti-reservaJion Issue
The governnent has anple resources ^d a strong notive to do s^ Tb-o
anti reservation agitation did very well fron February 20 to March 18
T onpX “ ‘ C“al riOt Start°d- But this thesis^s not tenable!
T!r?
ty ln
knows that the Muslins are their strong supporters
ano it cannot axfore to alienate such vital section of their support"
M dh’ eS?;C;es suci1 conspiracies can easily boonorang on then. Again
Madhavsinh's past record as a chief rinistcr is not 'indicative of
nalice and. he is not known to stoop so low.
"
_ Still' another theory current in Ahnodabad is that the congrc-s
dissidents who did. hot get tickets ha.c stated it. They wanted L ^ovo
Sone of the cissi-..unts or the non-ticket scourers are mii+n
>
or their corrupt practices and nachiavcllian designs.^inanci-l" "nCLn
resources nay not bo a prob Ion for then and they will certSnlv 1 B
happy to see Mr. Solanki onbarassed or dethroned. Mr. Ivan Fera in bis
rTrt publishcd in the Illustrated Weekly of Ihdia.W
19-25,1985 wrires, "The agitation against reservations was not stStcd
by the Opposition panties, but it rapidly engulfed and XXl
’
he ruling ano uno Opposition parties. Jn nany iknsitonco0 thn nn1
r«»
i sbdss1™ Stairs1”’»
One can thus sec the active participation of the Congress^! workers
xsx’sr
dp
aboutkit]?aThp1^
01a?kl affitation without Mr. Solanki knowing
a ut it. The local CongrSss-I workers being part of tho city niddlc? cora-™al and it should hot surprise many of they
have led the nobs to attack the Mixslins or tho Harijans.
Conspiracy’by foreign agencies to destabilise' and thus weaken India
is not credible. The C13L and tho KGB - the two nost important and
± w-rful agencies capable of crating chaos in tho country are not at
TndilniC1an0V0'pCi^tatlliSC India*
"•1’- watching developments in
India,under Kr^ajiv Gandhi with croat interest. True, there was a lot
w ’th1Vn ?•
h +U1,in^ thiS riOt but tIlc searoh 311(1 s°izure operation
oy tho police and the military have failed to unearth any firearms in ’
®
quantity or many which are foreign-made. Thus there ware no'
sophisticated anno or planning to suggest foreign jands.
®22J2L92I£^J2-£™R_-_RiPih_®Bn£isAffii0N_biw mjjgiij^lisation op tjie
Jioor OF AHMED ,r;B~
nnT+^hc?adabf-1 rcCoivoB i’110 full impact of state politics. All
levJl Politins1Cr a’G vocif-rausly active here and the issues of state
arc increasingly decided in the streotsof Ahnedabad.
SdSad: C 108 “ aUdarat tGke thcir CU0S
what happens in
of 2.5 millions
smx s^^'.xrst 2%
S°11\p , ”° ,“°r ?Cf10"«a “ tte »o?-tor„.l private s°ct» „a S S”
nn/111^
10 ln5ustrlQ1 unlts where they aro eaploitecl, got poor wa-es
anJ nc.vc no job security or other fringe henifits. jifld to this tho
plight of sone /0.000 rendered jobless due to the closure of nills
B»“p?Bt rtb^110
'■* “ “ --S
toy 1» ^oXr-lpdn
.. "
111 a sn£111 shcd or even under a tree. They wore r-ottiu'--nore than fc.30 p„r day in the organised nill sector.
cv-ceuncc to show that when people experienced chronic
aS+2 T63"1* °f downward shifts in social status they tend to
uioplacc their feelings towards tho minority group. Ahnudcbod is
sproadins „„t».-.,cla 1„ all jireoti™
tsLe cuUyinv ^2
.
h
?™’iyt1nPSV"?1S!‘'<1’
°xanp10- B«r™«P-.r 1» full or sluno and
is
populated by ite poor Muslins end poor Hindus nnny of whon have nir^atcc. fron UP. iiic newly rich clnss consists of those who have been
n ho real estate and those- who have snall^scale industrial unit- in
or arounc. /lined ab ad. One can addr n few boot lexers and snu^lers in tho
oG®G -ouck.uion a-sa nouns of i..- • • - nuking noney. '-^hosc are nil die
class persons who are highly anti-rosprvutionists and have participated
a groat deal m ‘che current agitation.
- 155
I wish to_conclude thid*article by enphasising that it is ■"
futile
XpdS d Sinc\Ci a3enCY °r a CaUSG f °r the roccnt connunal riotsJ in Ahnedabad which nas a long history of connunal disturbances fron prcX°SdQnCe XS’-BUt-fOr the laSt 25 ycars - So>
Sociology^f
Zhoodabad is changing m a direction which pedisposos it towardf
violence. A rapid urbanisation has narginalised tho poor here and’
XX°r XTXTether in t0 the flaying areas Jull
si^.
SOCill^tnant
1
“^H8 111 thiB UaSS °f Pe°Ple‘ Th0
aroas Th'ir
'iT” 7 ^°tlG^ers» Srow in tho interstices of these
a . TUir need for settling old scores as well as their profession
particiunta1^®^13
such ■tine's and they do not hesitate to
pa icip, te m the disturbances whose causes are in the prevalent
nillionaires in a hem very short tine. I predict that any future
a^iatlOn of ^-iever nature taken to the streets of yjmedabad and
cintmumg beyond a few days will no
'’
^meuaoau
now get’ diverted
into
oonnunaland
violence. The Sociology of Ahnodabad
—- 11ns- now cnbly clmnged»
SOURCE;- P^^^Dha^,2^leht^Ui THE RADICAL HUMANIST
July 1685, pp25 to 31.
f
f
r
f
f
f
f
ISI DOCUMENTATION GEN THE,
Post Box 4628,
BANGALORE-560 046.
FOR
PRIVATE
CIRCULATION
"ONLY
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T---------------------- .
^*-0—0-0—0—0—0— 0—0— 0—0 —0-0—0—0—0—0— o—o—<p
? EVOLUTION OF THEOLOGY IN ASIA $
?o-o-o-o-o-o-0-0-0-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o?
Some time ago, at the Pax Romana International Conference,
Mexico city, 1979, Francisco F. C
”
t Bishop of Malaybalay
Claver,
(Philippines), made a significant contribution which,, even today
has not lost its relevance.After a critical assessment of tradi
tional theology, Bishop Claver delineates the outlines and
suggests the direction which should characterise new theolo~
gieal thinking if it is to contribute to people’s liberation.
This contribution was later published in ’’Convergence,. 19o0, No2
INTRODUCTION
Pu'fcse’t> let me state that I have no businpnq
. standing here before you to talk on the subio-. + 'Ir +i
evolution of theology m Asia.
I "-“’t a ^Sesflo^l
he”ce h?ve
special competenol ?o“?he
specific task you are faced with this morning
But rathev
perversely, precisely for this reason, I accfUed the
invitation to add my two pennies' worth of thought on the
s^ject of your consideration, knowing full well I do so
at the risk of making a fool of myself and possibly a
fiasco of your conference!
But in this world gone ma^
with wealth and high financing, perhaps our trifling '
pennies will help bring up down t* a little more sanity
So with your permission - even without it - we will all
take that risk*
cwj.ii un
The premises of my approach are most simply stated.
If
theology is a reflection on faith, neither the faith nor
the reflection -.both events, both processes - take place
in aseptic conditions of pure objectivity and orthodoxy.
They are terribly conditioned, hence equally terribly
2? Q 13 ~b IV 6 J
OXJU
UllJ-O
X U JL U1JO XX U J ,
U11XO
J_relativity
<3 IO U J_ V I U V —
and this
conditionality,
this
- Uthey
have to be given more attention than they have merited
heretofore. 7
In simple language, we have to pay more attention to the people themselves who have the faith, who
reflect- on that faith.
—i
|
1
•
I
1
•
1
•
I
•
—1
•
I
lie
We have to PiL“2TL??,i:nstak±ne attention
b'O the lived
ambience of their faith
----------and
reflection,
In
brjef, in
our theologizing,
we have to be unabashedly
+
J
Vr neopje unbred.
'
r-
-
• /
a
* J
Questionable implications x)f
of this
this stance
stance will
will
not, at the end pf this paper, be as absolute as they
;
f°tn
1 p?°P0Sfi - another way of putting things '
to look at the subject of our discussion from a primarily
pastoral point of view, and a pastor, in my definition
is one who puts people before ideas, who relativizes ’
better
for People to be ablt to relate to God
^is probably is the first heresy of the many
f+Unid
But I can assure you, I do
not intend.to be, as the inquisitors say, "contumacious"!
I would like to focus
Jhoughts this morning then on
(1
U)) the faith of Asia; (2) the evangelization
--------- of Asia ;
(5) Christian intellectuals end professionals in Asia;
and (4) our directions in Asia.
THE FAITH OF ASIA
Asia is a va^st
vast and complex continent,
continent and trying to make
sense out oi the variant expressions of the faifh as it
is found in the rich mix of cultures and traditions, the
mind-boggling diversities of peoples and nations, the
crushing magnitude of its economic and political’problems
this would be quite an impossibility - the preceding ' '
presentation this morning of the' cultural an'<3 socio
political situation attests clearly to the fact. For
despite the "puristic" thrust of the Church's evangelizing
efforts (we will say more about this below), the fact is
Christianity in Asia has a thousand .faces - Thai and
Burmese, Japanese and Chinese, Filipino and Indonesian
hundreds of all kinds of ethnic groups. Add to this the
Creat Traditions - Hindu, Buddhist,9 Islamic, etc. - all'
of which, whether we like "it or not (traditionally not)
have influenced deeply the implanting and nurturing, the
growth and florescence, even the decline and death, of
the' faith.in Asia, and you have quite a mongrel mess!
Perhaps the great task today for all the Church in Asia
is to look again into those influences and make up its
mind whether to continue calling them dilutions, impurities,
corruptions, syncretisms, or - what I think they are - *
possibly valid "faces of the faith". Blit I am getting
ahead of myself.
The complexities of Asia notwithstanding, I suggest we
leave aside those thousand faces for the moment and see
how the faith was implanted and conceived (in more senses
than one!) in the first place. This historical approach,
though not by any means unfolding the whole ancestry and’
evolution of those faces, will, I believe, at least give
€-rl33- • /.
°f th° present complexIn broadest.outline, the modern history of Christianitv
in Asia begins with the Age of Discovery (to take for
moment a Western viewpoint) in the 15th and 16th cStupes
tion of our historical perspective ie bv rm
*
contacts J^lrilshAh1?6 glory and significance of earlier
LStage
^rafter°aliaaVmissionaryOofhI
Kingdom6- he
a system, to^theTeaoTin? o°? t^osp^S ZI
s^Irit^f ?r+leSS t0 Say’
’
the^^ikSg^nFtht78’
and it had pLnty^o d°J wSh^rL’peZll^XTo^^
Asian Christianity today.
ms oi
An examination of the ecclesiology of the Church of the
Keiormation era would be of immense help to us here but
1 C9n even
give the main outlines
n£r,th 1 3heol2gy in a way thst wiH satisfy the strict '
he?entodIyPr°ButSasnT1 tb®obogj®ns who
be with’us
at what happened
a’
°f thlnklng, entails looking at the manner in
Gospel was preached, the mind-set of the preach
ers of that Gospel and indeed of those preached to, and
ask ourselves how all this conduced t» "the good of souls"
1 X^are
ham asking you t0 100k back with a hind! ’
ight four hundred years and more removed from the age
we are considering and judge what happened than with a
yardstick quite different from what was in vogue in the
Church of that age. The attempt, I know, is odious because
whether we intend to or not, we will seem to be searching
for scapegoats to blame for the mess the Church is in
today in Asia - if it is in truth in a mess! But regard
less of scapegoating and blame, there is much that we can
learn from the very consideration of the yardstick used
then in order for us to be able to scrutinize our own
^•day: if it is indeed the same or.different: whether if
should be the same or not: how it should be used.
outZ+f3-9 few facts - human facts - that we can start
™t with m our review. Let me stress from the vely start
that i am eniy too aware that we will bg eene
. .y
InCany XsZ^iha^is^ffe^d
si™Pllfy 3 complex rfality.
are not by any means apodi!ticGpronounceinpntfe?delnitotl0rS
^^r/hypothZeT^o ie^rhied
oo
ernPlrically in every instance. We leave it to
each Asian „„ „r cburel. to say yes or no to our angsts.
7
1.
ATTITUDE TOWARD NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS
The first fact we can look at - and I don’t thnnir
wh0 will contest its truth and generality6-
hacChryt^nity (Catholicism more specifically’ )
has always been preached as the only true reliP-ior/’
■ o?
SssZona'Sirof^he^grof^11510138 enc°™tered ’by ^eaSus
is this human side we are putting under scrutirv
nTb? outl?°k engendered by it was b^ So means the
best soiling point of Christianity to Aslans. Nor res It
in its rather extreme obsession for orthodoxy - the puris
tic thrust alluded to earlier, the best buying point
either, from the side of the Church, of such aspects of
Asian cultural and social life that could have been easily
accepted by the Church (shades of De Nobili and Ricci’) '
as possible ways through which the faith could have been
validly expressed.
hho
¥
2.
THE PRACTICE OF EVANGEL!ZATION
From the above general attitude, a seoorH -Pan+
.
s^Te0^:^:
. interests became (and in fact were) identified hv^at leawt with evangelization.
L acS^faoX’ ?t waT^
easier ruling and exploiting a population that became
9^(3 believed What they were taught — i e that
what mattered was the amassing
wealth in heaven; not
on earth. That's putting it rather crudely. But if from
the point of view of the Church, temporal power and wealth
were to be instrumentalized fe^ the Kingdom, the opposite
was also true: the Kingdom, incarnate in the Church, was^
used for temporal power, economic and political.
J am
afraid the latter case was truer and more frequent than
the former.
»33- ' '■
us 3 handle to some understanding of the present
complexities of the faith of Asia today!
In broadest outline, the modern history of Christianitv
ir Asia begins with the Age of Discovery (to take for the
means to
historical perspective is by no
hAtbe £lory and significance of earlier
a system, to the preaching of the Gospel ’in those da vs d ’
and the^
and It hed pmntTE a°( «
Asian Christianity today.
An examination of the ecclesiology of the Church of the
Reformation era would be of immense help to us here but
1 C3n even be^ *0 give the main outlines
of that theology m a way that will satisfy the strict '
hlre^todiv^n®?310”!1 tb®°l-0Sisns who may be with'us
.
, y* Lui as I said in the beginning, we
can look
?
at what happened from a pastoral poift of
and thil
to my way of thinking, entails looking at the manner in ’
which the Gospel was preached, the mind-set of the preach
ers of that Gospel and indeed of those preached to, and
ask ourselves how all this conduced te "the good of souls”.
I.am aware
1 am asking you to look back with a hind
sight four hundred years and more removed from the age
we are considering and judge what happened than with a
yardstick quite different from what was in vogue in the
Church of that age. The attempt, I know, is odious because
whether we intend to or not, we will seem to be searching
for scapegoats to blame for the mess the Church is in
today in Asia - if it is in truth in a mess! But regard
less of scapegoating and blame, there is much that we can
learn from the very consideration of the yardstick used
then in order for us to be able to scrutinize our own
3£eday:
" w: if it is indeed the same or different: whether if
should be the same or not: how it should be used.
There are a few facts - human facts — that we can start
out with in our review.
me stress from the very start
that I am enly too aware Let
that we will be generalizing too
Wo
win
-h-M-t•
much.
ihat Vnf?
n
slmPlify a complex reality.
In any case, v
”vhmeanf
by W9y °f S^eralizatiors
are not by any imeans apodictic pronouncements (despite
their seeming so!) but rather, hypotheses to be verified
or denied empirically in every instance. We leave it to
each Asian area or Church to say yes or no to our analysis.
1 .
attitude toward non-chrtsttan religions
-
TA® Rrst fact we can look at - and I don't think there
will contest its truth and generalitUchr?-stianity (Catholicism more specifically' )
has always been preached as the only true religion’ TBp
b!«+\JRT outlo°k engendered by it was b^ no means the
P01U ° Rristianlfy to Asians. Nor was it,
extreme obsession for orthodoxy - the puris
tic thrust alluded to9 earlier, the best buying point
either, from the side of the Church, of such aspects of
Asian cultural and social life that could have been easily
accepted by the Church (Sshades of De Nobili and Ricci!)
as possible ways through which the faith could have been
validly expressed.
2,
THE PRACTICE OE EVANGEL!ZATION
Prom the above general attitude, a second fact fonoxvc,.
the practical corollary was that the poor heShS had to
be rescued from perdition by anv and all mpa™ I,
k
physical force if necessary^
Sonnes?Wd^^ge’I^agon
went hand in hand - the sword and the cross - a?d with
the wedding of spiritual and temporal powers to being
,
about the Kingdom political .and economic gains and
interests
becameevangelisation
(and in fact . were)
identified hir Acio
at
least with
In AcS^faS;
easier ruling and exploiting a.population that became
Christian and believed What they were taught - i.e. that
what mattered was the amassing of wealth in heaven not
on earth. That's putting it rather crudely. But if from
the point of view of the Church, temporal power and wealth
were to be instrumentalized fc- the Kingdom, the opposite
was^also true: the Kingdom, incarnate in the Church, was
used for temporal power, economic and political. I am
afraid the latter case was truer and more frequent than
the former.
3.
REPLACING THE REJECTED
- I35"~
The third fact flows from the first two: If Hinduism,
Islam, Buddhism, animism were all false religions, heathen
ish inventions of the devil; and if their adherents were
to be saved from their errors at all costs, there had to
be a replacing wf the old with the new, the false with the
true, The.new and the true was Christianity - and Christianity in its Western, medieval, European (more correctly,
Latin; form. There was no other, and it is infantile
wishing
had been
another. 'The
only'trouble"was
,, . - there
.
------.------The only
trouble was
that Christianity was identical with European political
mat
and economic powers^
powersi^ and more than these, with European'
wo.ro
ways of thinking and acting. Christianity, in practice,
meant embracing the conqueror's (or would-be conqueror
conqueror's)
’s)
culture and rejecting one's own. If culture and religion
were interchangable in the European setting, they were too
in the Asian. The equivalency of accepting, often under
duress of one form or another, a "superior" culture and
rejecting an "inferior" one - to make the generalization
of generalizations - this probably is at base the reason
why Christianity has not by and large found roots more
widely in Asian soil.
4.
THE GREAT TRADITIONS
A fourth fast is that Christianity had a hard time finding
even a footing among peoples where the Great Traditions
were solidly entrenched.
It could be that the source of
resistance was the more developed thought system of these
religious-cultural traditions.
it could be that the
civilizations they represented were politically a match
for European .powers, even when eventually they came under
the latter's hegemony.
It could be, finally,'that their
cultural fabrics were more resistant to impositions, their
ethos as peoples more clearly articulated.
Whatever the
reason, the fact is Christianity took—hold in .a more'-or
13ss massive way only where these traditions were weak or
n«n-existent, or where cultural colonization could be
fully backed up with the power of arms, or, much more
rarely, where the people, by a genuine miracle of grace,
were able to prescind from the cultural trappings of the
faith and penetrate through to its essence.
The net
result of all this is that by and large Christianity was and still is - a foreign religion and identified with
colonial rule and exploitation.
Perhaps there are other facts that can be added, possibly
even more far-reaching in importance than the ones cited
above (the cut-throat antagonisms and rivalries, for
I3 ~
a™°^g th® various European powers and the adverse
effect theyhad on the acceptance of the Christian Gospel
of love). But whether there are or not, I believe the
above are evident and sufficient.
In any cas« as t ment
ioned initially, though I call them "facts", they are open
c a+5uesh0”)-ng 3r,d denial, further refinement and other
interpretations. And true or not, they-at least renresert
an Asian way.of looking at things.
It is one of our perswICiiTlSairectrrSt °r Wr?ng’ 11 has t0 figure in the way
evangelizing task aseAsian Christians
1J ow •
insights explicita%ed by the
Synod of Bishops in 1974 was that the Christian communitv
is both evangelizer and efvangelized. The insight is cert
“ practice, 1„ Asia and
In
of'the SorM
SS d
'■ *5? ^PeeUzed was the rest
been a unitv’iq
^lch^t2mn ?311033 of what should have
about above^ The paltora! a's^cts^f^h^^
talklng
be attended to, and indeed from a perspective1^??ferKtUld
perspective
different
from that we have been used to, from
an Asian perspecUve,
V llcl U
o y
7
Implications
been deeply wounded by the last four hundred years o5?he
Church's missionary efforts to make it Christian. That
is quite a mouthful to say, indigestible too and possibly
harmful to the health of universal Christianity! But in
a continent m which face is a common cultural value a
stranger does not win friends in the latter’s home grounds
by calling them from the first instant of acouainta?ce °
"offspring of the devil”! - and worse, treating them as
such even if only unconsciously. For that is what our
^ue-relignon syndrome means and .has meant in“verv nraot
ical terms.
I am not.saying that under no'circumstance
should one call an Asian a child of the devil (such namecallmg.can have salutary effects for him too!-) Nor am
I. implying that only Christians have been guilty of tlie
sin.
I am only stating a fact, as we see it, about the
first preaching of Christianity. The preacher was indeed
a stranger, a foreigner, and he came with others of his
kind, economically and politically superior (they had the
gun, they had the money), and he preached a new religion
from his ascribed but nonetheless real position of super
iority and power, and consciously or unconsciously, he
exuded that superiority in trying to win prospective
converts to his new religion.
a
,f "l^lonarlee and the
18 °ftOT seen as a
glorious pe
oA%mSraPSeOnS
examples of just the oppofitt ofe rePlete with fire
■ whic?>h^ -^edofanwdhaueCherde sr^p^r
religious too - that haS^efrZrofCS:U?S4 ao?dA8y!aSf;
ills these last 4JU years.
ialism aud imperialism^true1 but9k
imperialism, true,
2j.JSe.
internal
right'hand“is“totee:
“the the
lJft^W°
external
coIoh-
.To skip a point or two ahead,
our more immediate problem
3®Jlr|ternal imperialism. And
in S1+>S are at 311 concei’ned about
---- correcting their
learn how to deal c~
J?51 toerc.rtlT.ly
*■1. first in order
the external. But thp -nm-r»4order to
.face up to
ii. The Task N«w
' ®yselrCa}?eftl.y“f thrtes^of'the1”® ' let ”B <5<5dl'ess
ea°4 SKStt' S8“V^-ey S
E -- ^rpSf^.
“LZ
e--"the
a
:u:E
sobi™
in aT1
of inculturation, a burning issue, I gather
eS”„aJ|aP8t0tSBke1thtnSu-”0ohnath“??t Md effort “““Sing
in the people's oult^res. \XL\S“ge%„Tae
?Sa response to a real problem? I think the latter.'
And it is not so much a confirmation of what we have been
|a^tSeeeFe 38
t^e orl6ins of Christianity on the cont
inent as an awakened realization that the faith here and
i^Asian^oil
r?°teE must be even ra°re deeply rooted
Sian soil, and, to change the metaphor, exhibit a
none doordedly Aslan race (or fanes).
18,
— '3Biii. The Process of Inculturation
How indeed? How push the process, already begun desnite
the faitht^h0!-itS ^iginai preaching, of
incultulizipg
of inculturizipg
Tne laith? I believe the answer is in the earlier cited
concept of the Church, tlie Christian community as evang
elized ano evangelizing. The formula is too simple-? it
is
like Christ's pristine mandate: "Go, preach the Gospel
to every creature". And its working out is‘simplicity
mulaIfTt+n-~>P:r0Vlded+it iS allowed 10 work., rlr uhe^ormuia, I think, means that the Christian community is both
the recipient and the giver, the preached to aSd the
‘ lIstCInrob?Ictheof°thel; I subject, in other words, not
just an object, of the Word. I am afraid, in our exnero-1- the Church, that ’’subject” aspect of the communitv
has been a matter more of words than of fact. The receiv-y
tn\hhe F1Vinf of ^he Gospel must necessarily be according
. .he character of the subject receiving and in turn
giving it. And this giving and receiving must take place
concurrently at all times - it is of the essence of
Christianity itself.
givinr
ei?onh»?a5+b|enih0ing on
°n all
311 the
the time
tlme’ not the
World61 another way, the Church of the
--o Third
must
evolve
it
I don’t
cannot
that somrsuchnp?ocIssmfsethatVwhioh,weht°iSok
thW too
*°k •
know
must also be allowed 'to
makmg
in Asia.
in Europe
Europe baptized
baptized aa whole^civilization
whole civilization,37^^ystem^f
uvh-h and ^e^avi01^r’ and
th^n^
and made
made it
it its
its own, Io too must
allowed to.S 3?^26 W?at 13 best‘
in the^Sia^tl^rilh^Sjuons^?
variantly-rich
traditions
.of _H
itsS peoples
and make those lame ?
PeoPles and
and nations
-j same traditions its own.
World, m Asia more crucially than elsewhere
inow
aJB0
And please don't talk to me of the danger of syncretism
and the like. The charge, <as far as I know, was never
leveled at the Roman Church■ 9 for instance, as it embraced
Roman-Hellenistic
Spirit was workingculture.
’ln’that pScess^That^^^n
I have no doubt whatsoever,^^oliiuFpow S
peoples of Asia, in any people for thft matter and I fear
we, the official church, have been guilty for centuries
of the grave sm of doubt of the Spirit, in our do-bting
OI His people. Or we would have allowed Him to work in
Asia unimpeded by man-made traditions of another culture
of another people. I suppose the populus-cum-SpirituSanto is another one of these simplistic and broad general
izations that this paper is already filled with. But ou^
experience is that when this "Generalization" is permitted
%
-13^-
B:r hraies
Just the
The startJ-mg phenomenon of the BCCs fBaqin ou
is proof enough.
k-Basic Christian Communities)
iv. The Asian Soul
very real sense
i % rF"
izea Church, not an evangelizine one
vo+ +-L
evangelalways there, end what
seek ?o dels ?o let !t"shSe
SomUStsLTte™he ireSS; the fOOCi’ the
imposed
■roro optside. This is not a chauvinistic, adolescent
call to get rid of all foreign accretions.’ By no mlans
on°fn evenrwlde?Ssoalpkeh«any-0t^rS °? 3 cultur81 nature
the ou
v +-k 4C >^e ’ haye ln. 'the main become part of
the Church that we oa'l Asian. But they must become
animated more and more with and by our native soul Don’t
ask me to.describe in detail the lineaments of that soul
;°»Xs
SL
!
r
Tkfi”a
1A,,d let'3
rJr ourselves,
+u here 18 only one way; by trial and error.
This.was how the Latin Church, for one, found its face and its soul.
------- . This is how we too of Asia will find ours.
v. The Theologizing Task
scVPrtVe“Td>errOr Process Proposed here will, no doubt
•
It Is IlamS
^%0Ut °f watcM°Ss of orthodoxy everywhere
J?-am®trically against the puristic preaching of the
IsL an^tha?7?^ Charactrized the evangellzalfon o?
But yet it. is’an unaVoI^ble^Je3 process
'
t^f+faith
a 1^fe Procews and the reflection on th^fai^h
that we must continually do it itself a trial and erlor
process,
^are^rtSt Ifa^ ^.purifying Spirit. The
point
on pastis mistakes, pa'sVstSflngs to'li^ou^fa^tK^'
faith inadequately received, inadequately preached
ye^for^ll^+hat6 °f th®,obsession for purity of doctrine,
11 that> }n God's providence adequately perceived
in its essence, and, yes, adequately lived despite the use
of outside criteria and standards of orthodoxy- we are in
a. position to correct those errors and make our faith
positively Asian. This is a task that only we Asians can
~ 1'
Clwroh as e^feuzea Sd
”aot
prlmar-
■”M?e the
»f
notion to contemplate and diaefnJ
?ot S1™ply
idea to be realized tn lit s?ect. “^Hectually but an
The theologiS ! i cannnFf-"a911 iF plications,
that goes on ingthem will St t ®nother
for it of heresyfree theoloeizinv
know, satisfy the canons
firmly bSieFShe FoF SiStFSS- SUt n° matter: we
these communities, directing them SuS^ightiiy in
strorig conviction ’ is itseifgpa?t ofgtS rf-Se+l !nd tMs
is finding rejuvenation in
faith that we say
meeting of 1974 in
^Pe+,
taking place more generally
than they think,,. and
ana m
m
tne13 process,
process
the
we are beginning to
see the physiognomy of that face,.feel
face
the auickeninf
stirring of the soul that livens
INTELLECTUALS AND PROFgSSTOWALS
s^5eMnS?S1Sn?”rtSat:?:i0?h1B "U8t be ^rt oj that
group of people in Asia -’FF7 9F not* ;If there is a
whoare alienated from their AsiaFroJts8 J™^erial. “
ectuals to
and(1?
professions
Tn+
v’.
18 °'ur mtellmyself
the^neMtlS^LUFandUa)
question arising from it.
1.
11
°
tha faith-
THE BASIC ALIENATION
iJyeFnXj^oclS scl:Sus?s calF-a^grd FS?" =
part of one or the other or both’as KF1 -to plsy the
self-interest demand. Pardon X
Xlgf^Cles of
but I think they must be said onpuiv .lsm ^nd negativism,
third culture is palt o? the realiU
so-^lled
si:
vlew’U
"Sede™0^Sf
X'one0
poverty - and misery ’ 0PP^ssive,
the pioneers of the^faith ztoo^fL in much the same way as
social system).
40° yearS ag0 were Part of t^ieir-
2.
THE FAITH-QUEST TON
smackstoo^uc^of^he^in^If anaT6’-1 +> °nly to° awsre,
groups base their readin^ofs?S1S that leftist-leaning
origin or not, it Joes n!t LTh? 7 °1 But of ^ftist S
perceive its rather compelling
much inteiiigBnce to
see it and accept it for theqp pq
who do
question still is- Xt
I
Wh° doi]rt>
intellectuals ana'profess^neSaSout^S0 ■10
^”oZ^p;o» -Penally
a„a tn,:
5ue.,ttra .f falth for
?hom2"’The°bPQ-ende
example of Shat”7
Phenomenon is perhaps, an extreme
svmn?oma?5o
1 2-u^alking about, but t» me it is highly
ymptomatic of something very wrong about the system we 7
ive under. Or is the fault only with a part of that
itai+s
au'tomatically, with education,
starts people trekking from the village to the town, to
The city, to the capital, to the West: and that pushes
those.who don't trek out to trek back to become the worst
exploiters of their less educated brothers, the many poor.
Again, I speak in generalities, but this particular generu
common enough (with the possible exception of
Red China) - we have to ask the question we are asking
not only from a sociological but from a thoroughly Chris
tian perspective. For I take it, a Christian is pre
eminently a man or woman for others.
DIRECTIONS (Prospect)
I am afraid I have digressed. But the digression is
+aC®®+ary to brH?g you and your movement into the picture
to put you, as it were, in the dead centre of the P±CCUre’
-^1seething social caldera that is Asia- anri
got
-u 4.
demands °f y°u ■to be awd do in’all' that'ferment
in AsLAhe^r
eVolutlon °f theology’
tt isia’ the directions or possible direotionq
+1-1 +
—
1Lw1- ~
regions Z?
V+eXperience of the Ch^ch in the various
aTnn?iHCtlOnS HR H t3ke 98 Church
Asia today? I
am not too sure, but let's find out together.
If the
directions are not clearly marked out, at least for all
the various local churches, there are it seems, some dim
glimmerings shining through here and there, and it will
be worth our while discerning their confused forms even
a _ through
____ o_ the mist. Let me
as they, begin to assume jshape
Mi P?”icoup”?h?L^?A
e
K2K"lfor
foI'.a .»«w
(-1) the searching
prooccupations issuing forth from that searching;
and (3) the locus
- of the searching.
0
1.
f
THE SEARCHING-
1 must confess I have not kept in as close
t
should hevs with the writings or Aslan theo^gls
‘ 1
at least I am cognizant of the lively discussion ns, but
going
on on the problem of inculturation and of what is^being
merely academic, unless the Church itself gets intimate!v
P??blT +Of peop1^ ^ItSn^anJ61^
non Christian alike.
If and when the faith and its nraotice become meaningful„to these problems, inculturation
however defined, will inevitably take place
This
involvement
And involvement is the most practical em
bodiment of that searching for an Asian face that we are
dialogue oHSfeHb^
HS° iS in 9 very real sense the
ivho++^ 4-1. •
that the Asian Bishops are hoping for
Whether this particular insight is general thronvhnn+
Asia or
not is
is hard
hard to
to tell?
or not
tell. But ifdT^ioJls art St it
is, at least in substance if not in concept, widespread
emanftinv1^
13 t0 i+<?ge by the ^PP^s of dissent
manating from conservative Churchman who look at this
form and manner of faith - indigenizgtion as merely
political meddling or social activitism.
-1
2.
-^3
™^£2U?ATipi\TS
The one yardstick of success in the Church
work in Asian
' 10r s ^onS time been - and still is to 's
a
extent
.^^er of people who are converted into large
institutional
Christianity.'■ Conversion is a
weighty preoccupation of the
»SS3Sttaat”n,"k«e™tetheaS,e 0Pe.glTe" lhe
»o nttie
XrU0?3 belg11!p^Sga%°f
oFX^ uUi ?y.whobe dioceses and regions, the resurgence
l^rch.life in all areas of its ordinary interests is -
miraculous! nOt hyperb0’llc lansuage - nothing short of the
tw° Preceding concerns for convers-j
a third idea is gelling - or nn+
11 ■
10n ari^ witness,
given more and more cafeful at+^ fellln6 80 much as being
getting involved Jith people and Af = th\idea that
and trying to do somethin? at™! their problems of life
imperative and worth doinf in itse^Af a Sfinuine Go8Pel
witness is given to the GfSp?i wSAAg3rdless of whether
Gospel follows.
P
whether conversion to the
probably_ is not aItart^thCSg^often
:
gCrm^from^th^v^y
8 " “ W3S th<3re in
very start
uence of the lack of headwav
” Jen more as 3 conseq-
3 Church
Church in
in which
which orthodoxv^r\c“v^sio^ work. But in
that
orthodoxv
ha-cro for loy
®nd conversion to
~3 orthodoxy have
concern, f'
Church apostolate
what Its-ultlSaiJ
*? f!
^7
e outcome will be/ PorlnfthiX" K
7 •
bound to change the
2
6
it
a
fill
f
lJX
GhUrCh
38
alien
^
ghettoish,
rich. Bor another,
it will leas to some drastic changes
in the Church's er,
institutional interests, much more I®
would think, than is
a+
™der the witness pre- preoccupation. And for still
another
ikw+Vld be the break
through into the
i.
--o next level of the ’ evolution
of our faith
and theology in Asia.
3.
OP THE searchtnc
•X
The emergent ideas briefly touched r
fixed in the SCO’s, the Xie §hX?i
on a;above are firmly
firmly
is
not
—
J
communities.
» not rae -ode! for these - tho^ffL ol8
-.There
jj
-ci?LiTeiy
xsis
„r from
- but where they are
its members eve^dilfelning CinSff^t“omra™
— ltles
I'-ds of faith,
with
faith, from
faith the signs of the times, and most •
importantly, acting
ori the £ruits of their common
r.~ii discerning,
the kind of preoccupation that comes
"th6 fore is no
longer simply conversion to the faith
nor
even giving
witness to that faith, but the doing - the simple doing of the basic mandates of the faith: love
v.j , justice, service;
and doing regardless
of whether
_
.
,
,
°ue
lives
under a communistic or a <
*
r>eSime, whether the constraints,
political and economic,
■
""
to
that living are insurmountable
arrival’r^To
T° my mind this is living
- proclamation,
x'
---—
as genuine
and as powerful as any, 4that
:h"4: Christ
dr ' 1 is
' ~
~ the Lord.
indeed
The phenomenon is not exclusive to Asia, I know, but perhaps
the quality of quiet tenacity is.
I hope to say anyway.
CONCLUSION
s
that is - are supposed to
ether way around! f1:^ i.- . end by
~ talking
; -& about Asian e
Soletme
masks, about Asian dignity and Asianj faith. These ideas
have apparently a :non-sequitur quality to them - but that
is in keeping with our ’’inscrutability”!
1.
ASIAN MASKS
We in the Philippines are possibl” the most colonialized
(I use the term in its most pejorative sense) of all Asian
peoples. Some twenty years ago one of our more respected
opinion-makers, Mr. Theodore Locsin of the
.J suppressed Free
Press ? described our colonial status and imentality, ifT
remember well, somewhat along these lines.
For close to 400 years
;— - we were the minions of Spain, and
during
those
centuries
of -u->
thralldom, we aped Spanish ways,
, .
putting on the mask of our masters.
We did the same with
the Americans, 1wearing an American mask for the 40 years
•r so that we were
- - under them.
‘-1----The Japanese ruled for only
4 years, but even for that brief span of time, we also
tried on a Japanese mask.
In 1945 we became with independence a sovereign nation. We then tried peeling off the
various layers of masks we had been wearing, and we found,
to our horror, they
'
all had become part of our face.
—
We Christians of Asia have,
nave, in
m one way .r another
And the mask,
been
aloupM
iathengU+u Seem t0-be intent on making us do to^v; but
rather, the recognizing and the accepting the very face
n0W
letting - nay, making - ?ur native sou!
shine through it, uninhibited.
2.
ASIAN DIGNITY
I would fV%th°roughly.Asian to be obsessed with face
sensitive regardtfo^the^eif^but^+i8 nOt mRrely a hyper-
oommitied^n^he^na'me1
to ask if perchance we Christians of today in Asia are not
committing jjhe same sin all over again ourselves.
SUC5 3 question sounds ridiculous in the lixrht n-f
the tremendous^pJoblems^of
US • the llght
of
tremendous nrohlem0? ot Asia
Aqto XUX^i°
v,
xi^nt oi
unimaginable poverty, massive exploitation
regimes, genocide, etc... Despite all Sat
talk about human dignity? ye„
because I^elleve^l/0
' Yes • 1
in one way or another,
disregarding of basic human Cl
dignity and too, the
+
be“S given how, by governments „especially, are an
too often violative of.that same dignity
Hence the need
now to focus on it.
&
j >
s?rtEoK:?^as,nose„rL2??s.?^^iSn plr? ?o?°
That is why I talk of faith and evangelization, of the
Church s preoccupations and directions, of faces — and
+?S n
\am net suSSes'ting now that we construct a whole
theology based on "face" - although, on second thought,
I®C3+a\W+11 ask: Why not? The^theologizing task is a
must, but even more so is the doing.
3.
ASIAN FAITH
*
COMMUNITY HEALTH CELL
326, V Main, I Block
Korambngala
Bangalore-560034
India
In a
is a
toward that*7 "doing".
save one another's dignity
Tt itHf 1° Jhis: - Let us
can fully appreciate - aeeA-nri-1' +S 9 hask that we Asians
understanding of face Ind at nSat0 our variously nuanced
dignity. And it is a’task tha? nn?Per \eVe1’ of human
ourselves - not the Humean Curia not'^th'4'^^”8 •C3n do for
the Americans, or whoever’
Ll6 Russians, not
are borrowed from. We can rant and nl dorainant ideologies
against ImpsrlsUsm or
s
»“ c 1 T ’-Mt
Igious or whatever. But whet eli tteiShJt™™10 , rel„
--- shouting is in 0UI;
our innermost selves,
selves
honestly, ouLtly!°t£f\^f-ursoIves “
within us.
flnd the ans
wers are all there answers
5
’
J°r us Christians, those .answers must issue for+Ti nrt+
think in terms of nationbun fl
? other way, whether we
identities, of effective ras^onfi’ °f realjSing ethnlc
gies. The wisdom of Asiahnd
™Ork’ °£ evolving theolobeen ignored, bu us Christians in partiin a 5
we go back to it, but now with thoP?N+S 1 Z Tt ls tlmf?
roX^sT'™'3
fro. others, end >
POQSSOT't Olli* H3"tlV6 Gr od —VIVOT) f^lXTrii+v
nru
4.
.
I
to that wisdom will be enriching^! ourselves™?gthose
"others" too.. It will also be corrective of the many
disharmonies m all that was and is Asian Christianity.
That, in fine, is our evangelizing task, That too is how
a distinctively Asian theology and Church will evolve*
##################
SOURCE: Bishop Francisco Claver , ’
^^H^^gQTLCQ No .2/ 1930
InternatVonal
Students;,
134,
Boundary
S/F.Ko.loon.Hong Fong. ,LTSt:,l430^mdary St’'eet
FOR
PRIVATE
circulation
ONLY
-------
&
c0
X
X-
30 July 1985
C<2\vy-'
w°
Friend,
, . V:
Kindly find enclosed the following:
Wffl
1_». EVOLUTION of TKEOLOgy °IN ASIA
Among Christians a now thinking has
been taking piaco for thc pnstfe10 or
ifteen years, in some areas of the
;
the world like Latin America or the
- t - -hilippmes, as the new thinking
evolved, Christians have come to
play an increasing role in the trasormation of their own society.
Christian
groX'h^^/
00^^ ’ -^-^ing
irom rnilippinos where
Participation in the <
the ’’new thinking” which
---- i sustains that involvement.
:.r
4 -v.ir
2-r ANTI-RESERVATION agitation IN GUJARAT'
The problem of' Reservation is not
new, cchiefly
’ ’
in Gujarat.Yet, in
the past few months it has been ; '
at
the
origin
of
< * 1 •2
—
agitations
which
have bought out new elements to the
-e
problem.In
this
document one will
md a brief and comprehensive study*of the
--J issues at stake.
_3... EVEN IN DEATH UNEQUAL
In India, discriminatation between
rich- and poor is a daily routine
and people tend to got accustomed to it.The v
way the rich and the poor
are treated in case of accidents
or
such
other
Calamities> i
nao
iso i
indeed
revealing of the class
run
0
™
01°
f
OUr
SOciet
y»
and
the
class
bi
and
the
class
bias
on which our society is
nf
run-Thls is underlined by the reflections
made
byJu.bo
the author
indian
crash °,L^^^^^01^°
CCa6i0n of
°f the
th°
on the °
occasion
With Bost wishes from
IS I DOCUMENTAT I0W CENTRE
4
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form is available against Rs. 1. r’
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on which those articles or documents
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<
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'"sir
yxvo x
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l fe.
■’
1
'4X ,rf
r-
I
I
ISI DOCUMENTATION
CENTRE,
POST BOX 4623,
Bangalore- 560 046.
198
VOLUNTARY AGENCIES: IDENTITY CRISIS
>•
This article traces the evolution of ■vo
’ 1 uiit ar;y agenc ies
as they encounter successive disapointments
-- > with
various development programmes sponsored by.government
and otber. authorities:-from ch£tfii
Development
•work, to reformist work and now radical.or to revolutionary
approach.Each of the stages are' analysed and evenutal
conclusions for the future drawn.
neo colonialist strategy; to the rightists it is a bulwark
against any radicalism; to the GovernmentTs caprice it is
sometimes as righteous as the Government itself, and at
times it is 'anti-social1, 'extremist', 'seditionist' , and,
all that deserve gunning down* °nd to those who constitute
this group (volags) they are the only ray of hope in an
otherwise dark canvas, hope for all those lesser mortals
who fall outside the definition of leftists, rightists,
or the Government.
In this hoTrer-than-thou game, it is
but natural that any discussion or debate on volgas, their
relevance (or irrelevance), roles and ^heir positioning
vis-a-vis the other groups (leftists, rightists, Government)
-is fraught with the danger of dogmas, emotions 'anoK.passions
getting the upper hand at the expense of objectivity. As
one belonging to voluntary groups, t have seen ibis happen^'
many times in many 'damn you' sessions in the past. And
"
’once again I see a likeness of this in the columns of
'Mainstream'.
w7
sh0uldehoerthiS debate - whether voluntary organisations
snould be Government-sponsored or 'deregulated' whether
a code of conduct should be thrust on them or n^t - cSuId
be viewed as a microcosm of the larger debate in the countrywhether the thrust of voluntary action is progressive or
reactionary in its essence.. And all these can be traced
h\!! + sl’'Tphcrucial, issue: the crisis of identity,
identity of the volags vis-a-vis all other forces, in the
socie y. Pallure of the-volags to position themselves on
a macro-spectrum in the wider socio-political canvas.
/'rJ
|$)ll
Th; raison d etre of voluntary organisations lies in the
failure of the system to address itself to all the needs
of a society as influenced and defined by the social
consciousness obtaining at a point of time in that society.
And this gives the former its rationale, too: to perform
.
... •?■;•’!.• *V...» I •
'I,
A .-, . . _;.VT. I.-,, I,
/JV /
'’,yi'"'
(M J
functions which the "system" fails to perform
(I use the
term "system" to denote not only the structure of
n
ernment or the composition of state Power, but alsJ ?he°V’
totality of all social and political forces and their
alignment at a point of time).
This is so in a pluralist
society
However, there can be another kind of ?oluntari
lationale^Vnry/Ot-haVeufailure °f the s^tem as ^s
7
rationale Volunteerism observed during a national crisis
or calsmi’rty fslln
+ po'orv
>
vhere concerned
uH+h
° u undei?
UIJuer This pa
category.
We <-are
rnn+
ca eS rry ~ voluntary organisation/actions
rooted m the failure of the system.
At the ■conceptual level, there can be three nossihlp
..in a .historically defined socin-pnlitieal matrix, and the
particular approach one chouses’ would , in turn, be deter■ conf^rStior the ifl1031 ^i^tation.
In the first approach,
the idea is. to
the
to get
primarily
concerned
with maintaining
the stabili ?an°) Xge
socioty, and
his aotiono
pnaolnd^/^S/
S *ajr°HtWln'tto1thCl’ Pe?Pie t0 SCCept thl”8™”s they’
dPlik If yo/^f
Sarvodayaites were trying to send across only till the^ther
such messages are never heard^any more.
This time it is the Government a^d the ideologues of the
Western world: "Don't you produce any more children if you
want not to stay poor" is a message of the same "fit in'
variety.
early.
"conformationist" S^hfi^^pproaS'or'oTa^L'Snc'e'jF
distress types who confined their activities to belief
the old generation 'talkie' types. The earlier anSeh
gave way to 'Reformationist''approach and a new turn was
given to voluntary action.
What determined and guided
this new turn is a question I now turn to.
long with piarned development', the Production-oriented
development' of the sixties, typified'hy what is known as
Green Revolution", brought into sharp focus the large
<LOO
ioratr^ide ’r?h“?,t M’ the ooolc-politlcal map 1„ the
t
t -b
relations of agriculturernrodiier^10?^11- °f caPitalist
creation of new class forces withi^thforglnf the emergence/
the one hand, and gradual fliZnaJtnn
f”731 Sector on
representing the small peasantry and landless0^ 9ectj°ns
other, were there for all to
’ndlesa class on the
representing the rlcj poasant-^ddle MasL^Kudford^3
trinity, because of their newfound richness fnmH° d
political clout from the ruling nartte?
d “”se
which the former avowed allegiance to the latt-p2rn a°a
this added strength of thei^o™ In
combination Sith1^
State Power which they found solidly behind thlmlhZ
trinrty could now direct all weapons of oppression aid
subjugation against the poor without any let or hindrance
and get away with it. The fallout was only too ei?de|?- ’
the violence and terrorism that stalked many parts of the
country m the sixties and early seventies'
nniir +-21
a
could miss ths writing on ths
thaV^odSSon'orisrted
development ' had .sown the seed of a violent struggle bitween antagonistic classes.
The-pitfalls of 'trickb-down '
theory was realized. Heads started rolling, in Delhi and
in far-off Washington.
In quest for a coping mechanism. The World Bank +n i
lead in generating "a bold new" noliov
B|”k 1 k the
to all Third World countries based oSindfaVplnS s.warninS
Robert McNamara, the t*en Wor°d B
s experience,
"No one can pretend that genuine la Jd and
ponti£icated =
easy
It is hardly sufmsX X Sm&o? t”?™
political power structure, who own large holdings should
SX°S igMSPSti laSU! * Aether Sd^?^^1'3
ical
.stability" (emphasis mine).® Sher o?SJ-t0 pollt~
cnptions was; ’’New forms of
•+£•of hls P^esIsatlons which
■iQe~iriher??t P?'fcential 3nd productivity of the poor as^
13 fnnefl1uy Siven ‘fco Protecting the power of the nrivil
s-B!(“sr97?j’,,’K: Adaress to
of oevSjs,
reoinp CaT6
the secoild-generation s
o'^r^egy, with
recipe. fend reforms, tenancy
reforms
^wZt' j?jj.h. a new
«
--------------- f /fixxxxj, SSFBA,
etc.,
launched by the Government are all_ upshots
’
of
this':
—
stratep-y*
And for the volags, it was now a .T,‘ ' oriented
development that they laid the tasktarget-^roup
before them.
“j? evolution ls that a saloty
otherwise would have been potontlallj°” ° 81t”at10” which
fitted the bill. A
■
^o/
help-youy approach which basically aimed at bringing in
certain improvements without in any wat tackling the uniust
and exploitative edge of the society hfs been ?he halSrk
of this phase.
A few yearsof work, and then came disillusionment. The
strategy did not answer the purpose it was designed fbr,
and ’development1 remained a myth. The imported peg did
not fit the hole that’s India’s socio-political milieu. A
growing realisation downed on the grass-roots activists
that poverty or backwardness cannot be viewed as merely an
’income generation’ problem which can be solved by ’filling
the gap’ with economic inputs. And this led to serious
rethinking as to wha+ strategy to replace the old one with.
Out of all these emerged a new basis for ’developmental
intervention’: ’people’s organisation’, ’conscientisation ’ ,
’animation’, and countless other such high-flown jargon
gained currency. Goals underwent change from ’development’
to ’social change’, marking the emergence of the thirdgeneration voluntary organisetions which now began calling
themselves ’Change Agents’.
It may be noted here that while the first two phases,
especially the second, were marked by a coping stance inso
far as they sought to contain the changing forces, the
current phase which began in the late 70s is not condit
ioned by such designs or fears. Nor was it dictated, I
firmly believe, by McNamaras or Western ideologues. It is
something that has emerged from within and reflects the
fact that voluntary organisations have now come to recog
nise what they should have done years ago: that it is not
possible to hold a decadent society in its place and
fossilise it for ever; change is a historical necessity
and inevitabler
One question remains unanswered. Given the emerging trend
among the volags to define their tasks
in terms of
.
^2 organ
organ-
ising people to f'ight for their rights and against exploi
tation, where do their (volags’) strategy, orientation
and ideology stand in relation to their redefined goal ’change’?. To my mind this question needs critical examina
. tion as without a.clear understanding of this complex issue,
we may end up strengthening the forces that resist change
just as, through our development strategy in the second
phase, we ended up helping the rich instead of the poor,
who were our ’target-groups’.
A MAJOR weakness of the voluntary groups in India is that
they all live in the shell they have built around hem,
cutting off all interactions with the socio-political envir
onment. I do not know whether that’s an inherent weakness
of the volags or is deliberately dene. But it’s a fact that
in doing so the perspective is lost, the inter-connections
and ramifications get blurred and the whole issue is obfusca
ted. I shall narrate a small incident from my experience
to make my point clear.
While working in a very backward area ir Madhya Pradesh,
we came to know of the existence bf 39 Saharia bonded lab
ourers in one village, and found This to be correct on
verification. A debate ensued among oufselves whether we
should organise and fight for these bonded labourers or
leave them where they were. All voted for the first course
and I, for the second. 1I realised thatu we were djust not
prepared to take on the landlords (all the 39 families? were
bonded to two landlords). However, a lone voice has always
to give in.
’Intervention’ started,
started, battle cry was sounded.
Things started moving fast. My friends were happy. "People’s
power” was gradually making its strength felt, 'and people’s
victory, I was told, was in sight. Suddenly, after 4-5
months, everything collapsed. The Saharias and myactivist
friends were receiving one crushing-blow after another from
the landlords(those two were now joined by other landlords
who did not have naything to do with bonded labourers).
Bocal police, MBA (belonging to the ruling party) and even
the State administration had joined the fray on behalf of
the landlords. The matter drags on till today with freedom
for the bonded labourers nowhere in sight.
This is a typical case of well-meaning interventions going
haywire for lack of clarity and purpose. My friends had
seen the case something on these lines: There were'39
bonded families and only two landlords in question; the
law was on the side of the ’bonded’; what was needed to be
doTEe was organise people. They had failed to foresee the
other landlords joining the twosome, realise that while
the law was with the ’bonded’ the G-overnment of MP was
with the landlords, for according to the former’s record and everything that exists must exist on record - bonded
labourers had long been abolished/rehabilitated in MP. In
brief, the political dimension was lost sight of. Barger
versions and variations of this shut-your eyes to beyond-.
immediate is all too common among the' voluntary organisations
of today.
The^cause, and effect, of this narrow-grooved perspective
is that volags do not have any political ideology to ident
ify themselves with.
TChangeT is sought to be brought
through non-political action! This is where the inconsis
tency lies in the whole philosophy (or lack of it): that
people can be organised or people’s power articulated
without a -political ideology, that ’social change’ is
possible without bringing political forces at work!
Someone should remind them that society itself is a totalitv
of structural-social-political (ideological) forces. If
politics and voluntary action do not mix, one fails to
understand how the latter finds its bearings in ’organising
the petpie ’ or ’building people’s pc^r’ which are themselves
political dimensions5 or manifestations underlying a political
ideology.
What is needed is a <clear-cut
’’
political ideology of voluntary action, an ideology which,
h, as an unifying force, can
give them a sense of direction
and
--purpose. Otherwise,
’change’ will remain a hollow slogan, however sincere or
serious they might be, and it will only create illusions
and confusions among the credulous5 masses, Jargon and
jugglery with words like ”1we\’re neither pro-right nor proleft, but pro-poor and pro-transformation
'i-J” which are parroted by our social workers can wrought havoc; on society in
the long run.
How far our volags are prepared to address themselves to
this issue remains a billion dollar question, dollars coming
irom ’foreign partners in development ’. Estimates put' the
''
current inflow of foreign funds from international
-- L_ NG-Os to
Indian voluntary groups at Rs. 2 billion per year, A
colossal figure, by any standards. Since the previous two
phases were marked by input-oriented programmes while the
current phase is ’change-oriented’, what’s^ the rationale
for continuing this dependence on ’foreign partners’?
Can’t the volags now sever their dubious foreign connection,
at least for ’a change’? These are the questions to which
voluntary organisations would do better to give a thought
to.
To summarise this
'.hi^ brief review, we can now
break down the whole range of issues into the
following postulates:
1- Voluntary action thus far was guided by the
primary concerns of containing the development
of antagonistic class contradiction as a natural
reaction to the distortions brought about by
’planned developmerTHT
°E reluctance of the voluntary
agencies to relate themselves to the wider
social macrocosm has serious implications for
society. The ganger is more pronounced now
inan at any time in’the past as volags are now
trying to ’spring-board’ themselves from dealing
with things’ (inputs) to ’people’.
3. To claim or believe that social change is
possible without political action is either
wishful thinking or a design with an ulterior
motive to beguile the people.
J, If volags are half as serious and sincere
as their.slogans and professions are, they
cannot sit back in political ^'^^kwaters. A
political ideology has to be evolved. Without
this, it would be like a rudderless ship
Soiling m the high seas,. The ship may sink
and along with it, those who went ’for the
ride ’.
5. Whether or not volags develop a political
ideology will depend on their willingness or
otherwise to sever their foreign connections.
Judging r.;' the present trends, however, all
these seem to be very unlikely , at least in
the near future, In that event their sloga-n
will remain hollow , and efforts insidious"'
or at best futile. So where do volags find
their footing? Boes it imply that volags
lose, their relevance and purpose in such a
case? The answer is both Yes and No. Yes,
if they do not change their, goal ’changing
society’).. No, if they d o.
Voluntary action can still be relevant and purposeful with
out being ’reactionary ’ in its consequences. But that
i
needs lot of debunking of their prevalent framework for
’intervention’ at the grass-roots. What is required is a
coherent (and honest)philosophy shorn of illusory goals
and hang-ups that prevade the voluntary g-^ouns today. Tn
other words, they have to shed their role as*so-called
’Change Agents’, ’Action Groups’, which, we now know, they
cannot be. Instead, this‘is where they should devolve their
roles On:
Between the people and politics,, between the oppressed and
their ’liberation ’ , there exists a barrier that keeps the
’system’ where it is today. This not-too-well-understood
barrier stands as a high wall blocking the penetration of
any political ideology as the dimensions involved go far
beyond the realms of politics of the day. These barriers
(to change) ere: (1) feudal and traditional outZoo '< and
deep-rooted fatalism pervading the' Indian psyche; (2)' lack
of an attitude of rational questioning which, in combination
with the former, makes Indian psyche seemingly resistant
to change. There is a lack of understanding or inadequate
understanding of this complex behavioural dimension which
even the Left parties5 with all their dialectical tools ?
have failed to synthesize into a systematic body of knowledge.
An example will make what I call ’’the behavioural dimensions n
clear: The
r
same- bonded labourers as in the example I cited
earlier. In their struggle against the landlords, it became
increasingly clear to them that the biggest obstacle in
their way was the local MLA who was openly propping up the
landlords and trying to crush the Saharias. While talking
in private, the latter did not spare showering any swear
words on the MLA. There was no doubt that he was one of the
’enemies’. Came the elections in December, and they voted
en masse for the same person who was contesting for a second
term. This baffled me completely, and I decided to find out
the reason for this queer behaviour. An old man in his
sixties helped me with his answer: Whatever he is (the MLA)
are from
mean
and hardly
he was our Raja. ’Others
I”
"
’ "" 'background
1
(The candidate in question was once a
woirth their salt”,
’Raja’ of that area during the days of princely states).
Another example: an interesting feature of the last general
election was that even :in pockets where Left parties held
sway in terms of their organisations
’
’ membership
or suppor
ters , votes went to ’’Rajiv’s P-rty”. Industrial labourers
who genuinely owe allegiance to Leftist TUs voted likewise.
All these show that it’s not always economic demands/rights
which motivate them to behave as they do. There is something
beyond the scope of rational analysis that defies ordinary
frontiers.of political parties and their ideological frame
work. Personal charisma, feudal outlook, ^King-is-divine 1,
allplayed their roles in these cas.es.
Jepy
h^s^een done to gain systematic knowledge of
this behavioural- dimension
di“:;nsl_), let alone attempting to break
it.
’
Thisis
one goal voluntary organisations could contribute a- lot
--- towards.
---- further, irrationality and lack of
scientific attitude is not' an exclusive preserve of the
’ ma s s e s ! . Our intelligentsia, policy-makers, academics,
politicians, and all those who form the.’club of elites’
vie with the masses on this -score. It is one.thing w en .
irrationality or lack of scientific attitude.is conditioned
by bias and prejudice springing from vested interests of
the subject - ai)d this is often the case with this group and quite another, when ife arises from a genuine lack.of
scientific temper. In the former case, volags can raise
a public outcry and thus act as a pressure group, sijnu^taneouslv informing or disinforming the public m a w Y.
CmX S sclfntillc objectivity.. V™
10”8
have already teen active on these lines, -and their
contributions havebeen significant. The pioneering hard
work done rp Kdrala Sashtra Sahitya Parishad and Centre for
Science and Environment in the feld of environment and
ecology deserves mention in this regard. Similarlv, the
public debate initiated by a few voluntary workers all over
the country on the draconian Forest Bill (1980), although
it, .did not change the situation >in the least, helped
gaming an understanding as to how colonial and imperialistic
the.character of the Government is and how anti-people its
policies can be. Fortunately for the volags, they now have
the professional skill and understanding, albeit limited,
for this kind of a mission.
'
y
The,purport of the above proposals 9 which are more illust, rative than exhaustive, is to make voluntary action truly
meaningful, without in any way cultivating forces, wittingly
or unwittingly, which can do much damage to the cause of
transformation of society in the long run. It is in these
contexts the volags have to define their roles. Let us
shed our pretence as the champion of the poor and the
oppressed. Let us want to Tchange society’ without really
trying for it. This is the least we could do. What we
(volags) represent and stand for must be unambiguously
defined within a coherent framework which can help us over
come our ’identity crisis’. Everything else - Government
support or not, ’’regulation” or ’’deregulation”, and all
other issues - will then fall into place.
Isi documentation centre.
Post Box No. 4628,
24, Benson Road^
BANGALORE - 560 046.
FOR PRIVATE GIRCULATION:
Source:
VOLUNTARY .AGENCIES
IDENTITY CRISIS.
o
^U
Abhijit Bhattacharjee.
MainStream, July 27,
Page:
16 - 20.
fS5
COMMUNITY HEALTH CELL
326, V Main, I Block
Korambngala
/
PRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLY
Bangaloro-SGOOS^
India
PART • II
—
“ ”
SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR CONDUCTING SELF-EVALUATION
171
Evaluation to be effective, needs to find its place within
a well planned action programme. The starting point of any
development action is a baseline survey of the socio-economic
conditions of the community as well as of the perceptions
and understanding of the people. Such a survey is to be done
both by the Action Group (AG; and the local community.
Before starting work in a village, CROSS (the Comprehensive
Rural Operations Service Society
in Hyderabad) holds what they call
perception meetings. The community
with whom CROSS plans to work sits
together, surveys the problems of
the village and analyzes its situ
ation. Who owns how much land,
what are the various occupational
groups, who determines prices and
wages, what is the relationship
between the different groups*? The
picture which emerges is drawn in
the form of charts and put up in
the community centre. The success
of future action is then measured
against this picture.
When the objectives are left vague,
it is difficult to evaluate them.
It is therefore important that the
AGs and peopleTs organizations
(POs) define their objectives and
spell out indicators to assess them
in concrete and quantifiable terms.
Some groups, for example, start
their work only by saying they want
to raise people’s consciousness,
without stating how, once raised,
it will be- related to action and
measured.. This of course makes
the evaluation exercise difficult.
AREAS OF EVALUATION
The following are the broad areas which need to be evalu
ated.
1.
172
CONDITIONS
As tie most important concern of the rural poor is the betterment of their material situation, the
ihe AGs and POs
_ _must
-- j assess
whether, how and to what extent their intervention
has improved the economic conditions of the community with which
they
are
are working.
working. While doing this, they
distinguish
between changes which occur as a result of their intervention
^nguibn
and changes which occur because of uptier
facto
ther factors like industrialization, breaking up
-.j. of_ the feudal system government
programmes, etc. ™
“’ n
Following
are the main .areas in which
material changes can be brought about:
about?
n r.
• -ini____
i
;
Has the number of da vs in a y
’_. for
vzhich i"'"-year,
i;orS:j,ofi-'i3ysalternative
_
job opportunities for women and men been Have
created
-... J aas~ a7result
___ 1
of the pressure exercized ? e.g. Employment--Guarantee Scheme
shifted? fXW^k progra™eR? Has’the occupational'l^tlrn
niited
Has the wage rate for both women.and men gone un
for regular and seasonal work? Have women-.started fettine
ff wpSes with men? Has the relationship between employers
JWloyees changed ? Has the pattern of migration shifted?
if there are bonded labourers in the area, how has their
changed? What impact have changes in employment
hsd on the leisure time of women end men
^ac^es^ to resources and
D
people own more land, pIoughST'bimocks
tion facilit2eqdnnmhieinenti? D° they Possp^s raore irriga-’
j- n i'-Ciiiuies
have
accesscUh
to Sops
tliomp bX
nao gA™,
cropping
pattOT„ or
shi
ftodbetter
? Arc .rSrZ
Hc.s the area under food crops increased or decreased?8
important for the tribal areas. Increased ofrlducld access
to forest produce will give an idea of a change in theil
economic condition.
&
^neir
Credit: y
Has indebtedness decreased 9 ID.
ulj-Have there
been changes
in pawning or mortgage? Has the interest
rate gOne down?
^^4- —
Is there a change in the repayment method?
Do people have
better access to institutional
----11 credit ?
at lower prices? :Aie^crafts people and artisans buying
their own raw material?.,, n_
Has, women's involvement in marketing increased or decreased?
175
Analysis of provision stores and <consumption patterns; Is
the local ration shop functioning better? what items are
being bought and sold more? Has the sale of essentials like
food, cloth, increased or is it liquor , transistors, watches
which are being sold more?
Food intake and health: Are men,9 1women and children eating
’Better?" Have"’the nutrition levels improved?? Is there a
change in the pattern of diseases?’ Has infant mortality
gone down?
Clothing and shelter:
Ing improved?
Are people better dressed?
Has hous-
As can be seen, questions related to women and other espec
ially disadvantaged groups should be integrated into the
design of all evaluation.
The above criteria permit to gauge changes not only in mat
erial conditions but also in economic relationships between
different groups and the economic structure of the area. In
acutely poverty stricken areas, where the task of reducing
.poverty is a matter of urgency, such criteria should be used
to assess the q ua li_ty of 1 if e , e.g. are people more human?
Do they have more leisure? Are they more self-reliant? Are
they taking more decisions about their own lives?
Alternative economic ventures: Sometimes in addition to
getting a Tetter dea"l 'for" tKe rural poor in their existing
economic activities and roles, AGs and POs start some new
ventures like collective farms, poultry, joint marketing,
handicrafts production, etc. Their purpose might be to help
local people produce more, or to remove middlemen, or to
raise resources for the survival of the group. If these
economic projects are run along the usual capitalist lines
(and they normally are), then they might defeat the very
purpose of the existence of such AGs and POs. Therefore
The econ
their running is to be very carefully examined
omic projects undertaken should be experiments in alternat
ive ways of organizing production and marketing, and a tool
for strengthening POs rather ohan weakening them. The .
methods used should be liberating rather than enslaving.
The management model used will be an essential criterion for
the evaluation of such projects.
Some AGs for example, have started consumer stores to escape
from the middlemen. It is necessary to define the foie of
such stores, to review what items should be sold,’the
amount of profit to be charged, she use to which it should
be put or the way it should be distributed.
2.
PEOPLE
ORGANIZATIONS
174
Another area that needs to be evaluated is the strength
and functioning of the people’s groups and organizations
which might have emerged as a result of the intervention of
the action group. Before enumerating the. indicators, we
discussed some important general points regarding organizing
people which the AGs should be aware of and discuss among
themselves.
All those involved with removing injustices in present-day
society through the organization of the people have to
remember that the world we live in is fastly evolving.
Feudal relationships are being replaced by capitalist relat
ionships; capitalism itself is constantly changing its face.
In a country like India, different kinds of social and
economic structures coexist, at the same point of time, even
in the same geographical area. In such a fluid situation
AGs always need to review and revise their understanding and
analysis of the socio-economic context in which they are
working; to adjust accordingly their objectives and the
issues around which they organize people.
For instance, earlier (and even now in most poor areas)
scarcity and material deprivation were seen to be the main
problem. People were organized around economic issues like
employment , wages, higher prices,*etc. But with the advance
ment of capitalism, alienation also became an important
issue. Production is no longer for local consumption only,
it is directed at further and further away markets. In this
process, workers are getting dehumanized.' This dehumaniza
tion and its various dimensions need to be understood.
Exploitation can no longer be described only in material
and economic terms; its psychological and cultural aspects
have also to be considered and dealt with.
While the poor suffer more from scarcity, the middle class
is suffering from alienation. Both these issues need to be
understood and their interrelationships seen. For example
many AG members from the middle class are disillusioned with
the system, cut off from their won social and cultural
background and at times unable to find a place for themsel
ves. Many of them become activists not because of the suff
ering of scarcity but because of the pinch of alienation.
Development agents as well as people must realize that it
is the same system which produces scarcity and alienation1;
therefore, opposing this system is in the interest of both
the middleclass and the materially deprived people. The
prevalent notion that the middle class activists are fight
ing the battles of the poor which are not their own, is
therefore wrong.
Is sue-Orlen-ted
175
tiers
In industrialized rSO3ia^eeot^d industrialized sectors of
the Third World there
later, need to
„ be looked IpS"
™S0’ S0°ner or
for example, human
producers (alienati
consumers. Others
c
decide not only™ha t “is °to ’be"* S}S° 83
but also what
advertisement fod^ry^^e^Xh
consumers. Teople
losing control evih?”irb^g:hoiSees
Iney now believe that
a car, a ■' ~
important than what
nize that thev have to gSt-ergsniseTn^ Si* a^XS*but also as condumrts.
difference between 'blue
'
collar and white collar work
and workers is also getting
blurred.
are 'becoming alienated J “^tw"kinds^f Xl^tionfh^jF3
--• New kinds of
alliance might be necessary between them.
h"P
d
Other issues
and peace are sSllfr™ beootog ?™„erkKy' hu"an rl»hts
on ah
S ’.
,leed “«
develop a perspective
—
‘ their
L-- Interrelationships?0^ 18 th3ir SP331ticity and in
irueS we
nuu urgent m the context of the iwork with theyru£alhpooir
yet we put them on record to emphasize
and illustrate the’
changing nature of "reality,
-- *■
hence the changing rationale
for organization and the need for
constant review.
^r^^h’bahKn8^"1^^^^^0”
’ ^-alse
on the survival and’ifSpStv2 / riShts, or the attack
people through dSorestafX tu certain categories of
fisheries? Orvanitt t
schemes or mechanization of
also important. For women^uffeta 1
Questions is
riarchal value system and the attitudes it^ntails?*16 Pat"
^sterns bu£ a°ls^ t'o cStH^r^t ’
^^e^i^tZng
and education. Snecia Fa ttpS • ™ sJlve+sy^tems of health
specific needs and conceit of wn? -tOnbe paid to the
and education.
crace™o of women m the areas of health
Some indicators to evaluate
the strength of people's
J-j
n s""””
176
The following are some simple indicators
strength and
to assess POs
±nner functioning;
composition of
—r number
organizations
What percentage are
number of poor in the area?
Have fsome
---members left the groups?
reasons
— ? Was the matter discussed if yes, for what
m their group?
5unn?n”y+?iembers ^women/men) share
responsibility in
running, the group?
Humber of an attendance (Uy women/men)
do they participate in
at meetings? How
discussed and the level
Are members becommg more articulate? Are issues
---es
j of specific
women being taken up?
lssu
''i-io concern to
~ What actions have the f
groups taken? Have the
undertaken joint economic
groups
: activities?
" Is there rany interaction '
what issues?
? Is this interacti dlfferMt gr
On
---- on increasing?
3.
DEMOCRATIC FUNCTION Tiro
Another important
area to be evaluated is the ;
ioning of AGs ,and PCs.
inner functindicators for this but It is difficult to have precise
should be looked
-d into. some significant aspects can and
The composition of the AG and r
How many AG members are ou?siH J
m their clsss background?
8
their roles and actives? r
are
Setting involved in s^Xk,
. wnat is their motivation for
looking a^inteJpersonal^elf?® 3nd Honesty of
an AG by
as leader
major decisions and how.
n making?
Who nelotup for mobilStion
:xxhI„
and organization?
and .ho B0tlTate8 lt 1Dt/Xor? ’iS S/Ks1 ?h°r"lty
177
necessary resources for the work*? Who does po-r-rpc.-nmnAo-.no
and documentation? Another question which may be asked 1L
i5onr^MnOnSePAG°?
f™Cti°nS h9ve to
and pos-
The ?leadership pattern
can reveal the nature of
or rUn
a r
la thSWnyfcStF^
“iuw Shle^hae be^J^ilng
for ever end ever? Is there a second line of leadership ®
Is there a second line
Are the present leaders replaceable? How is the Question
of succession dealt with? It is impossible to think of some
AGs and PCs without their present leaders as there is no
second line of leadership which can take over the organizeiron when the tine cones.
It is interesting and revRnng
to see how these groups deal with the void created by the
departure of a 'charismatic leader.
it is important to ask these questions,
as_AGs who talk
about
■ 7 ’ dempcracy
~
f decentralization, etc. , also --need to
.0 ex
periment with and practice these concepts.
very’sSmpl^OM ‘Se?h«ot^ £™otlo"“« 1= "ot, however, e
hand, it ls good for activists to be
°’,e
and, on the other hand, it is necessary for all nf\
fe’
or^?a-0he 3
a0-
between these two tendeioles, e tela^^’wMeh^kls^S0’'
group more effective. The final proof of a good Soup
should be the action it takes and its actual impaft on
local people and realities.
impact on
PO°dealsWwfthfHjUdgi"g a S^oup is to find out how aan AG or
10 deals with dissent. Here, more than the outcome
it is
can findefftW?1C\^S reveal“SThrough discussions one
can imd out how the group looks at its- ovm problems and
weaknesses.
G-roups talking about them ;are obviously more
open, willing to learn and to change.
To judge the*-seriousness and purnosefulnpqq n-r o
AGs professing to value equality, democrat,
sharing
def
democracy,
sharing
mrtely.have to try to pr^ti^Tthese
concepts.
Sothe?
end SjU+Sing ! ?rouP’ therefore, is to see to what extent
and how it is striving to pursue these ideals: through
,
.
.
178
lifStyles”salaries’ facilities, perks and
ierceives these issues: IIXS to ^1X0!iVlction AG
of the life-style, ,na the rAtlSneZpVX^’.the
It can, however, Lu
be counterproductive if a fetish is made
of these principles,
If democracy and equality are not seen
as goals towards which o
groups have to gradually move but as
principles that must be applied1 mediately,
uCJ.
then AGs can
be paralyzed and become quite ineffective
Too much insis
tence on these principles can nlead to.------feelings of guilt,
aggression and impotence.
The sharing of a common lifestyle does not necessarily lead
toequality and genuine democracy and does not bv itself
ring about changes in society has been demonstrated by
several ashram - like organizations which have failed to
make any impact on society.
Although attempts must be made at reducing differences in
lifestyles and at sharing common facilities such
o m
overinsistence on this cfn also lead to p?ob!ems Ind b^n'8’
counterproductive.
Experience shows that attempt! bv^Iddi
class idealists toshare everything with others has after dlS
some time led to frustration, especially for
• er
ahd families who were not in^olveFt!’ the
the work.
Wehave to recognize the partKu^fijS
S
middie class and remember that one cannot Jun awy ?Lm
one's background and old habits.
y 1 m
Moreover, there might be need for some privacy some ner
sonal life away from the group, space for various kind! of
cultural activities, special interests and hobbies
?!
fact, such differences among people should be welcomed as
a major source of enrichment in human interaction
t
ities should be reduced, not differences. ' -'-L°n- InequalTherefore, the best a group can do is to
wards the ideal of group life with as 1 ttR
“oveJopossible and, in the meantime, be-very’op^n"abontU+ulty 33
isting inequalities, talk about them and therebv a^oiH3*misunderstandings. Frankness about one's bn
lifestyle, etc., MMelly IcoCs te orttj SSgSlM?’
smoother functioning.
'
ndmg and
able to create m society.
4.
179
PERSONAL GROWTH
And yet another area which needs to Bp t
evaluated is the
growth of each individual AG and PO membeH
various ways to look at this. One if
+f :L
R x?ef
•
4.
ree are
One tLiX^-L
is to ' The
unities such as educational fora,
6 her opportshops are offered to each
each member
member or ofly to JOgararnes , work-
Since the exercise of res^or si hi 11 +•+
-i
role in the unfolding of individua h/t7' SI1 essentlal
mation of the distribution o? resionamh?^Me?' ?» exa morganization helps appreciating* thn'inv i ^les within ah
ment of individual members.
g th lnvolvement and develop-
s/Sa;7J£73:EK:A;-v-:.lf:,:-..
tsz~ssssinterpret
^raits to be looked at and evaluated, commitment are other
groups
individuals and g
-------- can be judged bv thf^tiVeneSS of
pi strategies used"'y gbe new experiments
ziew actions, novel
such feelings a group remains a gathering 7?e absence of
iduals. To be able to make^ an impact th.frat?n,ized indivity among people. A sense ofLelonling^st^^ be ^TidarZ
to sustain middle class activists at it nf-A
5 necessary
their beliefs and work alienate them from4g
•that
and friends. They need an alternative famii F families
sisterhood (niraadri in Hindi)
• ' '
ar;i brother/
■■■
■
Vg
■
Another way of judging.individuals and thfil 4 +
ships is by seeing how they deal.. withsic.kne£ftln£eFeTatlonchildren, personal problems and crisis
bringing-up
divorce or death. .. Do. members help eabh otO~WLSUCh as
one has to fond for her/himself...*? ’ .........
t
or.. boes every-
K'h'
■iS* ■ ■
•*
■ U
!-i ■
' If: • ;
■
■■
.'*■
■
Of butterflies 1 .
180
While discussing this point the group brief! v
some individuals who are extremely capable ■
:lked about
' and talented but
do not stay anywhere for any length of tis*
ilies' they move from project to project - - Like 'butterfrom group t,o
group. They seem incapable of making long
to any group and have a feeling that they term commitments
can contribute
something to every group. They do have creative
- —j impulses
but seem to avoid responsibility,
AGs
must
role of such individuals and get the best outunderstand the
-J of them. Such
talented peopie do have a positive role
to
— -~
j-z
j ,
J_J_L
iY
Play.
Like
butterflies they bring pollen, icrorri'
fertilize a few ideas,
- , see
some through, leave others unfinished. r
These
individuals
need help to understand themselves and their r
-- r own
impulses
which keep them on the move and do not allow
thenTto
1--.. to
_o gather
any mess.
meui
We also briefly spoke of activists who Relieve thev can
start
project
/.
, a t_
u - - J or organization and within aa short
sra-n
^^+h„^hf?Uf0rslniake
viable and move short
on to start
something similar elsewhere. This belief we felt is roma
romantic and unrealistic. 7' ‘
_______
crea
'te
viable
aeIf—reli.ant, s£lf—propelling programmes
organizations
in such a short period.
5.
IMPACT ON SOCIETY AT LAR(7K
Finally, to judge the overall impact
of the work of an AG
and/or PO 9 the evaluation exercise must
examine how 9 in
addition to improving the lives of f
'
its
members', the group has helped ether poor in the area and elsewhere'
The foilowing questions can be asked to assess this:
- Have wages generally increased in the area ?
- Have oppressive and exploitative ■
moneylenders, police, government officials by middlemen,
politicians,
been reduced,?
’
- Has there been an improvement in the treatment of the
poor?
- Has the position of women generally improved*? Are Hic^e
fewer case®/ of rape, wife-beating? Are there changes fn
women's wages literacy rates, participation in Iola]
of
\
A
Ac??’ »rsotl,!e 01 gm Utnot oooflSAt
- Has the overall productivity of the area increased?
181
- Haye there been any favourable cl.„
changes in the official
policies/legislation
-- J either at the
level?
—‘ local or the national
-Has the AG ri.
or DO
PO initiated aa debate
debate -m •
development at' the local and/or
national?"?,
level?
to
The relationship with <other like-mindoH ■
other
area which
which should
be evaluated
m AGs and POs .is an
r area
should be
can see whether the AG or PO is part*ofT°J assess this one
netW°rk’ °r “Exacts iitl other any informal or
organizations 3 or
se?vSrandyfAOiit+aCtiOns/pr°Srammes» or
shares some
services and facilities with other
organizations.
METHODS op EVALUATION
The essential aspect of self-evali7^ + -:
perceptions and the different nroec^
’ "
ships - cannot be wasuredXough c 65 ■ ^Ie?,Pie/s yiews and
4-.
irherrelati
-^onq.uestionna ires.
that the best method to collect informat?
We felt
tions and evaluate the work is -'
through aiscjssior8 porcepgroups. Discussions should be hoi a
tK£fr~^-ons in small
at the pace of the local people
TheZrP7?3
peop1^
element of manipulation in them/ if
should
the
allowed not only to answer but alsoAo
” participants are
questions there are bound to be fresher formulate their own
tions which will enrich discussions.' ~
percepalso see to what extent there is sharing
;
of idla^tX^
communication, openness, etc.
inXTatsw:n
Group discussion is all the more important -im
- *
the oral tradition ;preva ils over the wr j tterin r
S
°2leties where
*-3,»rnte
n
W
o
r(i<
communities informal talks
--J and
and narrations r-ma
In such
source of information, the only way to snar/ r>ln 'fc^le main
S2me> such 3 method”might appea;/r
ivity; but, if our emphasis is on o"---- r to
evaluating group processes, then what■ to group discussions and obgerva-tlonv
subje»tive perceptions of a large'number
closest we can come to objectivity.
///&
P^Ple is the
/
!
.
■
/ J ' h/ J
To evalua.te ad h.oc ------------■
programmes,, special
inter^/.
groups can be organized, although iLnkages
components should always be ebtabiis/
see their actions in’their totality"and *not+ ?pia Should
;
fragments.
.. /
Role play by the members can be yet /pother me'-h d
V
1
182
getting different perceptions. it can
bring out spontaneous
reactions and honest
--views. Sometimes it
is easier to ex1-13
press things in a make-believe kind
of situation.
Analysis of field diaries of ao ™ v
gathering inT3H^TT^~T^ evalSatio^^vn5
a raethod of
it is necessary that activists not onlv^ke thls’ of course,
but also write them according to'some n
? regular diaries
format and system 'soRhat thfy canT
^pon, effective
why people do not write is because thev
R6 reason
write is never read by anyone." TherefRat what they
encouraged to write material which win b’ PeoPle should be7 a way ^hat it can be synthesized
X is
in such
most of the innovative activities esneeian ^plty that
go undocumented and unshared, thereby^ki^J116 processes,
for every group to experiment aneJ and
^cessary
yjes. AG members must see their work as^ao + i?6 Sarae mls“
and develop the habit and discipline of a actl°r-research,
work systematically.
PHne of documenting their
CONCLUSIONS
and it must be self-determined. Every
flexlbility
have to determine the areas or aspects of
itself
assess, and the method and indicators -i+R
113 wants to
ding to its own objectives and particular sff^ +? USe accorcan be no fixed, predetermined and magic
’ There
or participatory evaluation. The fact bhf+
for Self
supplying simple indicators we have prov5d^r|thfr than
asides and different points of view E ! L£O??otes’
flexibility and debate even on criteria * nri^ .R0 neee:
values. The criteria and indicators we’use a2pP^es.and
rabies, not laconstants,
rnfalliblA
varevaluation
e process or
which
ini L^ rettnS’8Oust
’ Self
-
use it and grapple with it.
ISI Documentation Centre,
24, Benson Road, 3P.B. 4628,
BAN'GADORE - ^60 046
ger refined as groups
Source : "IDEAS"
"ACTION"
1985/2 - 161
■Kam aJ ct Bh -j n
INDIA
’ "Are
on The M.ght Way „
"Page Wo: 15^2?
n z)Z’; A
Qjk fA
R4 P,
P P'\\
/
( •
Q
/\•. n
{ ?•
* ’’r
'v;
•ST
4
rt/- i'-''
(160)
PARTICIPATORY SELF EVALUATION
PRACTICAL _GUIDE LINES
PART - I
We who imet' tn
; Secunda.T'abad
were interested
only in the evaluation of the second type of
development efforts, m
All ^f
of us felt that although
a large number of action groups (AGs)
—' are now
concentrating on the mobilization and organization
of the poor, there is little clarity on how these
efforts should bo. assossede
The purpose of our
talks was to achieve sc-.o
some o:
common understanding on
the basis of the e-xpertenceJ and ideas we all had
on evaluation*
sIMPORTANT considerations
We agreed that the evaluation of peonle-centrPH
EVALUATION IS R&FI^CTTON OF ACTION
Evaluation, as we see it, is
/ collective reflection
on the
actions taken by individualsj within a group and the
group
itself and the methods oi
of lunctioning of* a g^
group,
Ths pur
pose is improvement both in the~ understandine*
J and analysis of
reality and issues, t
and" m future action. Thus seen,
r
it is
an important method of group education and
learning.
In-built and on-going evaluation
For a group interested in improving not only the socio—eoon—
i
V
A
-161omic position of the poor, L
mg and the understanding ’ ofbut a Iso the imethods of functioneveryore involved
evaluation has to ■u1 . rS
o»-g01„g; ■ ief?e=U„r£La
on concrete information
elcsely
UDketJ t0 actI^Bed
lb addition to or-.going
’
evaluation
years, there can be□ r, at the end of one or two
an overall,
hasT? eva1luati°n which
asoess“”* of whei
- - has taken place over a
•vrx^!w._.n
•
.
well the method°fndRimpo?taJce
of M.
M’ Kurian illustrated very
shared by
-- JercOf
“t0 an a-S^L
O!seOY)
On—'ST°SgveTr1Uati-
its
(sma_l, face-to-face groups exercise.
of rnr>ai " r^Hage sangams
assess every
theirmonth.
activities
and the. P^formanc8
poor - miated"
by CROSS
aries
In adS^tJon
of the fJnctionaction undertaken by them. Evaluatfn assess every major
organized every three months at^he m s®ssions are also
Apart from these evaluations bJ Se
area l^el.
meets once a month to take stock of J+2 1 P?0?1?, CROSS staff
ods of functioning. Annual eoir
?-is activities and methuary of every yea?.
self-evaluation is done in Jan-
-M. SELF'-EVALUAT ion
*.............
'■
"I
■■■■«
on seir
Pe°Iie-oriented
.
prog.
people and the organizersUno+nnS?lf’
’: its parametres, form and mZti^fPate’ '
Judge
program™ 's effectlveieaa m»t Se;e„“e0J“sl
thems
evaluation of tangibles
i—J1ITANGIBLES_AND PROCESSES
“—SAS?...
shS;K~g™
®r®_h°lh t8nSibles like imp
economic status,
sod awareness,
intangibles like
and democratic
J? then
must also focus
aspects..
assessing tangibles wh-inu
k
bechniqu es available for
elop methods
SaXaSrs as ?n“ed> . but we need to devesses are concerned.
far as intangibles and proc
The process a <--goes through to1 ■reach decisions r
is important ssgroup
and act
the outcome
- -...j of the aot i mo • We have to
stand how ■people move towards
the a< ’ •
’
underchievement of their
objectives,' It is necessary to understand
with POs and AGs
-J how the processes
and h0W tlley a.ffeirefch^the^ S-eral Presses
Their copiArte/So8^1^5'’
understood.
C!
T In
__ _____ L
'
------- « J.J.
-162Just as there is a close relationship between action and
reflection, theory and practice, there is also one between
tangible objectives like increased access to land or higher
wages and intangible ones live improved level of awareness
and strength.of PCs.
Ideally the achievement of one should
lead to tne improvement of the other.
PCs might be fighting for economic benefits but these are
POci
kted t0+Jhe usual development projects in so far as
DCs emphasise the processes and use each struggle to educate
and strengthen themselves. After achieving some small vict
ories, POs cannot sit quietly and smugly, but need to constantly ask how much space has been created by a campaign and
how that space should be used for future action. Bor them,
the process of structural change should be an on-going one
which does not stop at any particular point. This is diff—
target-bound projects, considered terminated on
°f Wel1'8’ ■the
£3
FALSE DICHOTOMY BETWEEN CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING AND
CTM nH/rrT’j’" DEVSLOPNENT
n-DT.: riTrm
--------‘ ■pr*
ECONOMW
I
!
t
I
t
! When the entire
!
1
J
programmes’ emp!
f
;
basis
is on materI
f
’
ial
development,
I
!
Analysis of
] quantitative anal!
1
I
ysis is primary.
f
local problems
f
| But when the
!
t
| ’emphasis of develCultural
I
i
» opment efforts is
i
Action
/
f
J
}
on the growth of .
t
aduht li tracyl .(
t
}
people
and their
t
4
t
organization
does
Health
f
r
;
(and
must)
go
tot
r
>
r
\
t
gather,
quantitative
t
\
I
(
t
t and qualitative
4
4
>
L
} analysis cannot
1
t
} be exclusive of
4
I
t each other. Some
t
4
t
groups take an
T
1 extreme position
X
and reject all
quantitative data and measurement of material devel onmp-nf
They talk only of intangibles like eonsciousnessSisTng
increasing the level of awareness, etc.
We felt a need to
n S°?(?.S?ntheSi^ Of evslua'fcing tangibles and intangib
les, quantitative and qualitative results.
If one is work
ing, with the really poor their material conditions have to
be improved fast (mainly of course through their own efforts'!
The poor are not going to be.interested in consciousness—
!■
-16 J-
Sdsl?f SFXvXnTR
”st
ations l°ke8BhoomlESenet«JfShraSlk”ISaCethiitl°1’ s°‘ OrS8I’1X’
have led to tremendous ocnnoSo bonXlts ToXtX 0K0S? <2>>
their struggles for recover!rwAior the poor through
Kt-
St?^ rAK.
E?
The attempts of organizing the
also improve their
— rec—
.eivmg mechanism and bargaining poor
power, rand? thereby enable
them to make increased use of government schemes
etc. .
---- s, bank loans 9
To recapitulate,
development and people’s organir
ations and action economic
are - and should be - dialeStLaU^elated
Every struggle by the
their economic C
should m turn strengthen
H^^.IOO^A^JffiEE_KIOS. OF PROCESSES
processes in three ar
-—J interplay between
tZXn^SpS/SX^XeX SIX-'
1’ The AGs reality and the processes within it
with which the / ‘
2- P^oe°sTAnhX^omU
ie4S. iS "°rkl”g Md
—j conpiunhity
3.
®OCiO~economlc and Political
reality in which
both AGs- and
--3 oppressed communities are situated.
Cow r-qcji o \ Vm
.
I
'.9
.
_1..
C>-<
^
Um-^c
is important to analyse and understand why r-
some people
form an AG, why they want to relate to a certajn
community, what their p^^ception of the larger in oppressed
reality and
- 164 structures is, what conception of change thev Pavp
u +
their goals and aspirations are.. Is there any homogenitv 9
etween the aspirations and understanding of the AGs and^
those of the community with which they work1? hOw realistic
0^ectlTes S8t
1” tn® context of opposttloS
INTERPLAY OF ASPI^TIONS^ND REALITY
It is also important to look at the objectives and asnira
tions of AGs and POs in the context of the ^Aes o? KaLtv
We have to see the dynamics between both.
The realitv AisA
and operates independently of the aspirations of AGs and POs
who intervene to change it according to- their own understan
ding.
So we must understand the totality of the forces of
society and see what the intervention has succeeded in
achieving.
Not only is there need to assess the extend to whinh +h
the
objectives and aspirations have been achievedto which
but theJ
9
themselves, have to be constantly reviewed and
according to changing reality, aJd the changes in aS and
u^erstanding. We need methods and tools to asses! the
aGs and POs goals in the context of their aspirations and
hypothesis, and of the larger reality.
ful and effective.
For examle
if
becomes meaning
theatre without underatanainrtAe =oa?ex? ana0™”1
not
related to any action, it provides at best Some enAXA
ment. People's theatre can inspire and lead to action only
if done.with a perception of reality and of the masses'needs
and aspirations.
When divorced from POs and from action
theatre, non-formal education ar consciousness-raisinv ’
efforts are uninspiring, --innovative and lead to
to nJ change
m the oppressive situation and structurescnange
THE ROLE OF OUTSIDERS. IN S ELF-EVA LUA T ION
Emphasis on self-evaluation does not mean that we took the
extreme position that local peoplej and AGs can assess their
work themselves. We recognized thatt every perception has’
its limitations. Just as 'outsiders ' perception might he
limited because of their lack of knowledge'and1 acquaintance
with local realities, local people's pc
perception might be
limited because of their particularity, The interaction of
perceptions and views (both of insiders and outsiders) can
therefore be very beneficial.
165 -
. The presence of an experienced and sensitive 'm+cia
e.-courage the group to '-formnla + o oJ
i
, "’itsider can
more systematically and~ob jectivelv ft^culah* lts Noughts
can enrich the discussions%y bringing inout?ider
perceptions, perspectives and dimSfns
Theh^F^6”063 ’
which local people either I’orp-pt
’
-^ere can be areas
to look at.
It is the outsidFs+ aF •Or do not wa^
ten elements of reality into dit°>ibrir,g these forgot-
realize
Local people and AGs have
?°CS1- ?----eDple
’ A®’ be
rat unpleasant
facts
cannot
be wished
wished awlh
3 cannot
a
an important role by asking the
providing useful
insights
dilemmas and d uncertainitils
.
lnSlghts for
for dealing with
Only those outsiders can
this role
-u
can play
play
role pffpr+ivn-i
actually insiders in more
than this
one we,:
Sev
t""
more than one way.
.J J^the^roup
the people who ',Tob jeltl^s® and"be
selvM , shouldPldentlfy
-J group's objectives
, - .
or at a different level.
1— .J a commitment to the
objective' and 'unbiased' <
--- ; ever been 'objective'
being objective
for helping in ar* . .. _h.o vari°us aspects of work we might
different ’kinds of°outsiders"
someone acquainted
with
..ith health issues when it is about e.g.
a
community
health
programme.
re^erab^ed that an insensitive outsider can ruin
ablo lf rfcs 3t/1a s®nuine self-evaluation; instead of leading
to a common understanding she/he can further divide the
people and generally harm the organization and action.
e
himself hr nF® FfeFiVe Sn
ider has
an outs
outsider
has to
to perpare
perpare her/
her/
£i
r information is
and natural
want toFhangeFhroufh thei/intSactioSf
WhiCh they
.
It was pointed out that AGs can t '
also help each other in
their self-evaluation. The same is -J possible between commgro^Ps- Experienced members3 of one group can
hejp others in their self-evaluation,
interaction
strengthens the links between different Such
groups and thus
increases their joint strength.
+
166 —
SELF-EVALUATION ONLY POSSIBLE IF THE AG IS^.BE^r-JjY)P^
It was stated that all AGs do not recognize the need for an
.m?elJi;e7^;U°Ko£
tgozUlngPwSohrdel?yeltAtIoJ.thOf eo£3^Xi%Se»°toBa7
extreme kind of nair-splitting', reflection can indeed delay
action, m fact at times becomes its substitute. But it is
absoiuteiy necessary (in right measures), especially to avoid
the other extremes of activism.
Some AGs might recognize the need for self-evaluation but
might not be ready for it as it analyses all'aspects of work
and relationships and this can be a very painful process,
especially in the beginning,
ahii5+.r
re(iuires a certain self-confidence, thP
1111^ +to. i1^
le.ability
look at oneself critically, and to
listen to criticism without
--------- a getting defensive or aggressive.
It is only when at least s
some members of the AG recognise
the need for a self-evaluation * that"its
— —j process can be started. As the latter goes on, cother members might also
recognize its usefulness and importance
“1
'
'■ and join it.
SELF-EV71LUATI ON AS _PE ROE IVEB
Aruna ROy shared with us the experience
of a self-evaluation process, Her case of her group (SWRC)
study shwws how
through it changes
took place
x - - - in their understanding and
analysis of the reality around them and their own role
vis-a-vis this reality.
SWRC started work in 1972.
Initially it was
=
group of professionals t-ying to provide teoh^Eai
ageriel solutions to the problem of poverty and injustice11SWHdid not work exclusively with Se poor
nor did it have their organization as its objective ? Tr’tho
course of the first three to four years some auestlonc
%
up m some of the workers' minds about the larger reality556
the community with which the AG should work, the adequacv’of
technical solutions, the role of professionalism, etc This
questioning by individuals within the AG led to some creat
ive tension and changes in the work but for another two
years there was neither a collective questioning nor a
clearly expressed need for evaluation.
In 1978, 8 to 1- AG
members started to concretize the issues and a debate began
within the group on the need for self-questioning. ThisJ
small group started meeting informally to formulate the
167 questions which were in their minds. They reflected on all
issues bothering them, and on the relationship of this ques
tioning with their understanding, their work and local
reality. They also identified problems in the following
areas of their work and group functioning:
communication within the AG itself and between its
members and local people;
different kinds of inequalities and differences in
status within the AG;
nPPdet^t10? of.decision-I?ja^ing in a few hands and
need to create structures
S^ruc^ures i...
which would ensure broader
participation and reduce the exercise of informal
power;
place of economic development and its relationship
with politics, social change, etc.
The group small at the beginning gradually expanded to reach
W to 20 members. They once sat almost every day for about
S1X/>W?ekS d?rir,g which their own work was more or less suspended.
This activity was not seen very favourably by some
other AG members but they did not object to it.
Watching
cautiously, they even joined some of the sessions but distrustingly! The ball which was set rolling moved on!
Later
a group of 40 had two 4-day long sessions with 8 outsiders
well known to them and '.-ho, it was felt, would be able to
elp them.deal with certain dilemmas faced and questions
they had m mind regarding the nature and direction of their
work, the role of an institution like theirs, development
programmes v/s organization, etc.
slow
and everyone did not participate equally.
------ _^d
Soki^ds Of <iyes'ti0Ils raised and answers attempted at are
w1VeS* Wc realized that our objectives had been too general.
W®+^aI?°Wed ■fchem dowriWe decided that we should work mainly
with the poor.
We formulated a decision-making process which
was participatory.
We wanted a forum in which every worker
could effectively take part.
We decided we should evaluate
ourselves (our attitudes, behaviour, understanding) once a
year - how honest are we, how democratic, how open, how
caste-minded? What is our understanding of issues? We
discussed questions like what is more important for a worker
- a Ph.D, or a capacity to communicate with people and elicit
people !s participation? But this process of personal eval/
168 -
nation when related to salary structures was not very successiul. Subjective factors played too important a role and
did not allow for the personal evaluation to become operational in relation to judgements by peers on one another's
~
salaries. This f
power
was vested by the eroup in its
Director, accepting its own failure.
"Also at the village level we had talks with people who had
pai-ticipated m our programmes. We met them at one of the
live field centres once a month on the new moon day and
reviewed the various programmes. Meetings were sometimes
held with special interest or programme groups like crafts
group, health group, etc.
”We concluded that there was a role for an institution like
ours. We discussed its role in development, ’’agitation
agitation ’'
m trying to bring about structural changes. We also discussed whether it was possible for a development group like
this to shift gear and go into organizational activity.
Some felt it could be done, others that it could not,
not and
should not".
The long talks' obviously led to several changes in their
work, in the decision-making process and pattern and in
interpersonal relationships. These changes led to the need
^scussior] 9^d clarity.
In the end a dialectical
see^ t0 nave been established between action
and reflection, theory and practice.
+
According to_Aruna these self-evaluation sessions were ext-,
/remely useful. : ' the^end
"
of it all, most participants
realized that this kind of communication and openness is
necessary for improving a fgroup’s effectiveness and impact.
Self-evaluation (can^help'
x everyone to think and learn collactively, to articulate better,
----- - If carried on sensitively,
it can make c
”
’• •
every
participant
more honest, sensitive, analytical
and. open to change".
,
- • It changes everybody’s awareness
and consciousness
and helps
--------- 5 as well as people’s attitudes
attitudes"and
them to cope better with conflicts.
Self-evaluation ^^i
c’
raproy?„s‘ £rfuPTs inner functioning by
creating better relationships
between different
the
+
~
--AG
members. Open discussion on certain issues removes un
necessary misunderstandings., ^By
By talking frankly - even
about sensitive issues - people begin to see and appreciate
others’ viewpoints.
Self-evaluation helps in evolving a common perspective, a
169 -
shared commitment to action and thus transforms a loose
group of individuals into a cohesive and effective AG. The
analysis of the group improves, IL
uuiwis uanutj better
ue u ue larger
it understands
realities and the interaction of its work with them, -By
making members critically conscious of their actions, it
improves both a group’s inner functioning and the work it
does with people. According to Aruna, "an attempt to resolve
our own dilemmas and conflicts led to greater clarity".
Such a ;process alters
" '
'’
" ' ’
. „_x_ _ within the group
the
relationships
and the'relationship
of
the
AG
with
the people. Because
\
the AG becomes a cohesive group and develops a certain focus 9
AG members do not say different things about their work and
this improved the AG image vis-a-vis people. The misunder
standing or confusion which people might have about the AG
role, real motivation, etc., are reduced when it develops an
open dialogue with local people and also involves them in
the assessment of the work it initiated.
Systematic self-evaluation requires that the AGs develop
methods of gathering and documenting information, of conduc
ting free interaction and discussions, and keeping records
of these. AGs also have to look for indicators of conscious
ness and articulation. Because of all .these conscious efforts
at evaluation the AGs work improves.
In addition to the improvement in the above-mentioned areas,
which are mainly intangible, experience shows that self
evaluation also improves the achievement of tangible results.
This happens because action becomes much more relevant,
conscious and focussed. As part of their self-evaluation 9
SWRC also did quantitative analysis and found that the
former had led to be better tangible results.
(This was also
Kurian’s experience in CROSS).
o
We also heard examples of some bad external evaluations
conducted by social scientists and rural development and
management experts, using the latest cost-benefit and social
cost-benefit analysis. In order to get a good analysis of
their-work, CROSS got an evaluation dore by a well-knovm
organization. At the end of the elaborate questionnairing 9
data collecting and processing, what CROSS got was merely
a description of its work without any analysis. The evalu
ation failed to provide any guideline fur future action
which was the main purpose of 'having it done and ended up
giving CROSS a very good chit and a substantial bill.
Similarly some management people had gone to SWRC to conduct
social cost-benefit analysis and its outcome was in no way
helpful either, at least not to the AG and local people.
•
f
170 -
The sharing of these experiences made us realize there are
no ready made ’scientific’ tools available for the evaluation
of efforts to conscientize and mobilize people. Established
academic institutions cannot for obvious reasons be expected
to provide the necessary help in the matter. AGs and mass
organizations together with some sensitive academics will
have to evolve methods and tools for assessing their work.
* *
SOURCE: IDEAS and ACTION, 1985/U 160, by Kamal Bhasin
IP DI A: ^re we an the Right Track? pp^ 10-15^
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CRIMINATjISATION OF CAMPUS POUT ICS
194
"The Students as ccl partJ of thetr
"
academic pursuits
have to encounter student politics^
politics, teacher poli—*
^cs, caste politics, party politics leading' to
the crzminalisation of campus politics.
Studentsf violence manifesting in physical assults,
murders, intimidation of students and teachers, angry
slogans etc. and the near collapse of teaching work are
now not an uncommon phenomenon. In fact there now prevails
a state of organised chaos and violence in which a small
group of ruffians and lumpens hold the campuses to ransom.
What is sad is crimes and criminals in campus life have by
now acquired some degree of helpless acceptability and even
respectability, since many among such elements not only
get elected to students1 unions but also become teachers
and teacher leaders.
People who indulge in violence (1) Individuals who, having
sought admission through intimidation or fraud, use
uo« the
campuses as sancturies.
(2) G-ruups formed on caste-basis
which indulge in physical assaults and murders to settle
purely caste-based disputes; (5) G-angs composed of castegroups owing allegiance to faller angels in politics who
maintain private armies. These soldiers of their bene
factor politicians receive training on campuses and in 5
to 10 years emerge as politicians of some standing them
selves. Some of them are subsequently given organisational
offices in political parties. Teachers also are found to
be hand in glove with this element and provide patronage
to them- to achieve their personal political ambitions.
There are instances where even principals and vice-chan
cellors have been willing or helpless parties to this
caste-based political gangsterism; (4) Organised groups
linked with students union politics.
student politics. There have been instances of students
involved in murders and such other crimes getting elected
to student unions. Political parties, through their
student wings, use campuses as recruiting grounds for
their cadres and since politicians of today need muscle
men and bullies, student politics serve their ends. On
the one hand, the student wings of political parties make
use of these anti-social elements for their political
purposes, on the other, the campuses have now turned
1i95
into a happy hunting ground for all kinds of toughs and
adventurers capable of mustering political support for
their personal criminal ends, through these student bodies.
These ’student1 ruffians learn the tricks of the trade on
the campus preparatory to becoming netas. They learn the
things - how to intimidate, disturb and disrupt which seem
to be the essence of 'Indian politicking today’. This
kind of politicisation of the student community results in
the creation of small groups of political gangsters pitched
against each other in mortal combat. Such confrontations
lead to frequent violence and disturbed campuses. When the
administration cracks down on such elements, cas.te politic
ians, teacher cliques and political party leaders start
dubbing it as an attack on the ’temples of learning’.. The
apathetic and passive ’silent majority’ of students is kept
as hostage by the student goons. The more shrewd student
leadership which seeks the help of this mafia element in
the context of the given student politics of fear and terror
plays its own game. Not only does this so-called principled
student leadership fail to take a bold stand, it actually
abets it by providing them with a cover of respectability
of ideology-based student politics. Terrorism apart, even
intimidating teachers and physically assaulting conscient
ious teacher invigilators and demanding copying in examina
tions os a birth-right become union election planks.
Unfortunately, political and governmental interventions
often go in favour of such anti-social criminal elements
as they are in league with the politicians who count.
Where some principals and vice-chancellors have been con
scientious and bold enough to confront such elements, they
have been subjected to relentless pressures from the local
administration and state and Central Governments. In one
case at Allahabad University, to the utter humiliation and
subsequent resignation of the then Vice-Chancellor Dr. U,N.
Singh, the Chancellor, under political pressure, supported
an expelled student. The protest of the university teachers
as one man and the High Court decision on the Chancellor’s
order proved of no avail.
In this context, a look at the conduct of teachers will not
be out of place. A new variety of ; teachers and teacher
leadership has made its contributionj in promoting this
culture of criminalised politics. T'
Many student leaders who
do not enjoy the reputation of having been serious at
studies manage to secure teaching jobs by manipulating
better divisions and political affiliations. They subssquently create law and order problems. Some of them also
become office-bearers of teachers associations. Teacher
leaders themselves comingto blows in the campuses is not
a rare occurance. It is common knowledge now that Principals
and Vice-Chancellors too, on account of this criminalised
environment, either keep permanent official bodyguards or
Z?6
their own personal musclemen as isecurity men or they themselves keep arms either to protect
( inspire
- - themselves
- --- I.^j or
awe,in such undesirable students. Flying squads of
invigilator teachers during examinations can be seen
carrying fire arms with them.
In
prevailing atmosphere most academicians are’reluctant to join as„ Vice-Chancellors,
.
------ So that not so desirable
persons manipulate these appointments for themselves due
to their political connections. Such political appointees
complete their tenure with the active assistance of outright
political or caste-based teacher and student sections.
Such Vice-Chancellors become convenient tools in the hands
of student and teacher dadas thereby playing havoc with these
centres of higher learning. Favouritism, nepotism,
corruption and inefficiciency breed fast. The beneficiaries
of this situation start terrorising conscientious teachers
and students. With such- persons as Vice-Chancellors
violence-oriented politics flourish with impunity.
Teacher associations in colleges and universities are
more political than academic. In many cases, they form
part of this culture by aligning themselves with student
politicians on the one hand and pliable educational auth
orities on the other. The goings on during conferences of
these teachers associations for holding elections provide
enough [evidence of the type of culture that they imbibe
and promote.
As pointed out earlier, political parties , too, have much
to account for in this state of affairs, All the leading
political parties have their student wings..
_
It is through
these bodies that their debased pplitics is siphoned into
college and university student politics. For political
parties these campuses are primarily a political situation
where no holds are barred for securing political gains.
The history of the past two years of students union
politics, especially in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal
and Punjab, would reveal the extent to which politics has
accounted for murders, physical assaults, arson and
consequent closures of Universities and colleges for
months and months. What kind of activity this politically
patronised student politics result in was shockingly
revealed by the National Union of Students (N.U.S.I.) a Congress (I) affiliated body - last year when it held
its national convention at Nagpur. Their harrowing
exploits are too fresh to need any mention.
College managements, particularly of affiliated colleges
m.semi urban or rural area, contribute no less to prom
oting this culture of criminalised campus politics. Most
/?6
their own personal musclemen as security men or they them
selves keep arms either to protect themselves or inspire
awe in such undesirable students. Flying squads of
invigilator teachers during examinations can be seen
carrying fire arms with them.
In the prevailing atmosphere most academicians are reluc
tant to join as Vice-Chancellors? So that not so desirable
persons manipulate these appointments for themselves due’
to their political connections. Such political appointees
complete their tenure with the acrive assistance of outright
political or caste-based teacher and student sections.
Such Vice-Chancellors become convenient tools in the.hands
of student and teacher dadas thereby playing havoc with these
centres of higher learning. Favouritism, nepotism,
corruption and inefficiciency breed fast.. The beneficiaries
of this situation start terrorising conscientious teachers
and students. With such persons.as Vice-Chancellors
violence—oriented politics flourish with impunity.
Teacher associations in colleges and universities are
more political than academic. In many cases, they form
part of this- culture by aligning themselves with student
politicians on the one hand and pliable educational auth
orities on the other. The goings on during conferences of
these teachers associations for holding elect ions.provide
enough levidence of the type of culture that they imbibe
and promote.
As pointed out earlier, political parties , too, have much
to account for in this state of affairs, All the leading
political parties have their student wings., It is through
these bodies that their debased pplitics is siphoned into
college and university student politics. For political,
parties these campuses are primarily a political situation
where no holds are barred for securing political.gains.
The history of the past two years of students union
politics, especially in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West.Bengal
and Punjab, would reVeal the extent to which politics has
accounted for murders, physica1. assaults, arson and
consequent closures of Universities and colleges for
months and months. What kind of ac'tivity this politically
patronised student politics result in was shockingly
revealed by the National Union of Students (N.U.S.I.) a Congress (I) affiliated body - last year when it held
its national convention at Nagpur. Their harrowing
exploits are too fresh to need any mention.
College managements, particularly of affiliated colleges
in semi urban or rural area, contribute no less to prom
oting this culture of criminalised campus politics. Most
197
of these colleges are managed , rather’ownedby a dominant
caste or a coalition of a few castes which have their own
political ambitions to fulfill through these colleges.
Members of these managements not only play their narrow
caste politics but during elections use these students and
teachers for political purposes.
It will thus be seen that there exists an effective nexus '
between student politics, teacher politics, caste politics,
party politics, one helping or exploiting the other but
all together contributing significantly in criminalising
campus politics and resulting in a situation of Tbonded r
students and ’captured1 campuses through anti-social
elements.
This kind of campus politics is a post-independence scenario.
As contrasted to student activities during pre-Independence
era, the post independence politics has been parasitic in
as much as it has been promoting itself at the expense of
students’ interests in particular and society’s interests
in general. For some very petty political gains criminal
students falsely parade themselves as champions of students
causes. The small benefit that this section of society^
ZlL-. l influence,
1- .'"
•
fact, for all
derives is useful political
this society pays a (colossal
---- - cost culturally, socially,
economically, morally and of course academically. It
It is
is
high time well-meaning political and academic leadership
a+a-r-h -hakirw
note of
start
taking serious
serious note
of it all before it becomes too
late.
We may note a few hopeful signs. Initiative in reforming
educational matters has started coming from alert and con
scientious stud ents , teachers and citizens. Such efforts
have been made in Bombay where some students, at Allahabad
where many teachers and at Meerut where spirited teachers
and citizens together successfully carfied out campaigns
against mass-copying. It can only be hoped that these
few examples of determined action will pave the way for
more comprehensive social action. Such efforts will be
effective if political parties leave educational institu
tions to students and teachers.
ISI DOCUMENTATION CENTRE,
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Source: CRIMINALIZATION OF
CAMPUS POLITICS
by
Ko Co GUPTA
The Radical HUMANIST
March '35 - PR* 39-41 •
»
190
LUMPEN ELEMENTS IN OUR POLITICS
The Lumpen elements are "inho spi table " to social
values and ethical norms.
They constitute threat
to the functioning of democratic institutions and
shall lead to fascist rule in the country.
*!•
One
0^ may dispute the validity of the expression
I
11
'criminalisatron- for describing the ethos of Indian politics
It
will be certainly wrong to believe that political institu
tions and political processes all over the country are
being dominated by the f cr
i mi da 1« i’ ofthe underworld. The
criminals
party caucus, (centres
'
.of socio-economic decision-making
and governmental
machinery in short the political system
, ..x.xuvx, vO 1 machinery,
do not betray the 'hegemony' of criminals, swindlers
dregs, scoundrels or ruffians. Therefore the question
arrsps why so much talk of and concern about 'criminalisation as an important element of Indian politics
One of
the explanations may be that idealists, professional grouns
the Gandhian tradition, w^ll-meaning citizens
and liberal democrats find it extremely difficult to recoS!’
cile to the growing erosion of the credibility of the accented
democratic practices and norms. Disrespect for constitu- P
tional imperatives, distrust for dissent, indifference to
political ethics and social morality, proliferation of
corruption and deliberate undermining of institutions ■
which are vital to the working of democracy is not surely
a very decent development. In fact these trends began to
grow m the late fifties and early sixties. Social scient
ists and concerneo citizens have been protesting but have
failed to check their growth. But the expression
'criminality' as applied to politics is of recent origin.
One could imagine the.aversion of the democratic c onspience
0
to certain .acts on the <part of so-called 'respectable*
individuals in the recent communal program,
The leaders
who planned the killings included the members of the
5
Central Cabinet, Parliament, State Assembly, Municipal
Corporation and the Council. What was evident was that
looting and killing was well-conceived and.thoroughly
planned. No civilized person will approve of these narnenmgs. What is the solution of this problem? The solution
cannot be found in a better law and order machinery on v
or deployment of the army, or a more powerful government'
It is true that such developments will reinforce 'author’tarian statism' or perhaps fascism, in this sense th- '
recruitment of certain groups, which I will descrJbe as
lumpen, in politics poses a great threat to the stabJUty
of the democratic system in the country. Instead of
criminalisation, let us use "lumpenisation" of politics
that is rapidly taking place.
f'Ul'.'p i I, (I, I
I
f
I)
I
«
191
deal with the.question of
dominant Anglo
St””14i’sS”ty”aS‘:tte etate°l° te“S The
“ the
way of underol classes and
power
exercised
for
effect ithehs^eflmony ohthe^e3”'5 ana
caP
ltalIn
and .capital.
In
This arrangement perpetuates bv fnhh^
ude.
over the raultit
multitude.
coercion in an elaborate
much better system as it has to h+ h
democracy is a
XS;g-k-skBa“ “MbwS.^
S: PreaeTL
H “ Lp
that it gives political power to the classes whose locl^
IndMetti hnS 1”tended t0 Perpetuate - proletariat, peasants,
the class whis!eJowebitAsan^ionFiSSt1$he M^geoisie,
tees of this power.
It imposes on’X Si • Fol\tical guaraneoisia dempcratic conditions which constantlv°f
help its enemies towerds victow
4.1
basis of bourgeois socIp+v
t+ L
d/DS3I,gsr the very
it should notgproceed froMohtihin<3S fr°m M one ’thst
emancipation and from the* other that ilTshmfld 10M+to social
from social restoration to pSltS SsteSL *
The most important
rule of capital is
the sovereign will,
On this depends the success .-p n
+h
ution and democratic norms.
The fail uh °1’cces,s •£ Constitmanipulate results in curhino- +u ailure to regulate and
restricting the area of -politSah Z’ChtiG riShts ar|d
Sometimes it leads +n
cratic systera to Lsure powhehtT
6?1 of
°f the
establishment
- n^-dewpower
of
the
few
is described by Marx al thZ
fe^ This Process
of the b.urgeoisie by the^ill of ___ _ j °f h® dictat°rship
the corsol?L^h
will of the Pe°ple 5 in case of
peapie's disapproval its
'-J
consolidation
the people. The extent of class lonflhF1™^ nhe W111 cf
therefore, determine
®nd alass struggle,
determine the
the nature
nature and
cratic' rule. The effort of +L " i
of the ’demo’
that the balance between the domirS+nS
ls to see
is maintained and the'conflict
S+^ dominated classes
worker- and owners S lanf and caStl? doh C°llactlve
unmanageable. This is true with ah +h°h not become
as backward capitals? cZtSes.
tlM
=
as well
hshh \P Wer of the many.
The Indian ;
rule with the
v
e la s s a s.
«i
.
H' . i
'r
I'
r
I'" I
192
challenges to this rule have to be met in a democratic way,
i necessary.The post-independent Indian State, by adopt
ing the principle of 'mixed economy', signifies the' interstrati on of state capitalism and the private enterprise
The Constitution maintained right to property; the planning
process reinforced private sector; the economic approach
both in the field of industry and agriculture, favoured the
existing property relationship and the policies promoted
he growth of industrial and agricultural capitalism result■
th? conc®ntration of wealth. But the' Indian eapita. list development also generated under-development oharv
eV9r £rowi^ unemployment and social
eonfliets all over the country. In this situation the iob
of tne state managers becomes quite crucial. They have t©
rely on bhe instruments of ideology and
and repression.
repression. The
elements of liberalism and Gandhism are quite useful to
propagate the message of nen-violence and peaceful worship- mg of 'legality'. Tradition, religion, populism etc. are
invoked to preserve the status quo. The 'enemies' should
be labeled as 'anti-notional', fascist, agents of foreign
powers etc. People's support has to be won over through
Talse promises e.g. socialist pattern of society, 'Garibi
Hatao.', g*ve.rnment that works', preserving unity of the
country. The adult suffrage is used to vote down the'
radicals and pro-ehangers.
(Did Napoleon not advise
Bismarfc in 18^1 to introduce adult suffrage to- defeat the
liberals in the cities?) In case of the' failure of the
instrument of ideology, the state managers have to resort
to repressive and unconstitutional measures. Ruthless
suppression of the Telengana' movement, removal of the first
Communist Government in Kerala, elimination of the Naxalitfes ■
rigging of polls, arresting opposition leaders, imposition ’
of emergency may be instanced here. The treatment' meted
out to the pr*taganists of civil rights throws sufficient
light on the dempcratic predilections of state managers.
Indian politics in the seventies and eighties- clearly
indicates the trend of reliance on extra-constitutional
and illegal centres of authority. The lack of organization
of the "real" workers and their "passive vegetative exist
ence" provides a very good opportunity tn the lumpen elem
ents to have the main say in the s«)cio-pnlitical life. The
lumpen elements are quite useful for breaking the trade
.union unity of the workers, for terrorising the rural
militants for bribing innocent voters, for rigging the
p©lls, f^3» capturing polling booths, for beating down
•opposition parties1 activitist-s, for attacking the offices
disposition parties, and’ for organising riots along caste
and communal lines. They get the rewards as well, as prot
ection from the state managers.
Criminals-, SNUgglero, vagabords, pimps, murderers, and
other anti-social elements are not functioning outside the
I
195
institutional framework of Troian democracy but are beinv
involved in a big way in the structure of the party and the
- vanrsation of ftr. go-o^raent. At ever^ level ~ Lnicinal
state and central - the lumpen elements are given tickets
to contest elections. More often than not they emerge
victorious in these contests
rho-i-r- •,r-!o+^
UUB^e
'con jests.
tsslrof the state manager easy. They can properly 'handle’
any inconvenientinconvenient bureaucrat
bureaucrat, recalcitrant police official
and readily available businessmen to finance th?
activities of the state managers
xinance
political
f-■
the authority of the ruli^f/^ia-ao
!®QdOes
underm>ne '
lumpenisation .does not hurt them /"in f|?t j Jh®refore..
•interests. -It; is the best t-abl agafnst-'?he
+• *heir
working class’The lumpen elements con-tltut?1} +1J1Ve+
to the ftafttlohlog of aemoorertho to
.%& Sflr''
lead to fascist rule in the countrv
i,na
.
are "inhospitable" to social values and ethdo?l’ ®le”ients.
T,i5a?4
00 1 self-interest'o^th^^o'oVv’S?-
- man^v^irgcf
OiS’tfShi
u
thfe st^te managers-^Iso- -make the'common'^"’1
citizen cynical in his .approach towards vital political'1
and economic questlions.
. . --v . v
O
f.
Z
. - -
«
,r
‘
•' r.
■
■
■■
n
**
■■
•'
O -
*
■'
'
eoonomioPkvelofkent^1°It1isrnurturbl'bv%:nS<!fcT’-e+<jf'
of'the state managers. Tne fear
^°Pu^ls^ic policies
alienee, of the state
leads to an
The ruling class has to refoneileSwit/tS’§11kmeflts•' '’
authority is not disputed.
The onlv JdaS Slliarce as its
this alliance dan^eror^ i =< uT i
y class which finds
™dustrini:wage--earne^fhhis c^asf
I,°n~
e-ountering 6nd'-challenving-lumron^=, + 7
? b 6 Stake m -
-jLh -
flght• rt
0
vV.rt
'
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.
o’"
. *’ „•
r-• - Sourest LUMPEN-'ELEMENTS LN
our - -politics''
.■ .
.
^^k^MV^CZRCULAT^ON
by
MO IN SHA'KIR
The Rad-teal Suman-tst,
March '85 5,1-55. <
ft A f-
CRIME AND POLITICS IN INDIA
The politicians and the bureacracy includinq the
law enforcement agencies have Joined hands tn
enforcing the rule not of law but of the
criminal'
Since independence, crime rate and the strength of armed
police in the country have grown faster - much faster than
population growth. India has earued notoriety in the world
by having the distinction of a faster growth of black money
compared to her national income. A United Nations’ Report
mentions the sad finding that India is the main distribution
centre for heroine, opium and other dangerous drugs. Things
appeared so bleak that Mr. Hiranmay Karlekar, of the ’Indian
Express’ wrote two years ago: ’’Barring a miracle, India
would be in the midst of a crime explosion in a few years.
Life, limb and pioperty would be insecure in both citii©^ and
villages. People will prefer to remain indoors after dark
and will travel only when they must. Women will find it
risky to be outdoors even during the day. Gangs of hoodlums
will roam the streets freely spreading terror. The rich
will live in highly protected buildings as virtual prisoners.
The exaction of protection money from shopkeepers, business
men, industrialists and owners of cinema halls and restaur
ants, prevalent in many parts of the country now, will become,
universal. It will include in its orbit poor individual
citizens who are now spared. The rule of law will be
replaced in most parts by the law of gangsters”.
Karlekar!s article was aptly headed as ’’The hand of the
Rising Gun”. As a police officer who served for thirtythree long years after independence I fully endorse Karlekar’s view of the future which is far more shocking than
Orwell’s 1984. As a minor political worker between 1942
and 1947 and again since 1982, I am witness to the ever
growing nexus between the politician and the' criminal. It
is a fashion among the poliae officers to blame the politi
cian for interference. The latter have been publicly
accusing the bureaucracy in general and the police in
particular for the sorry state of affairs. Both are right
- but only partially.
Mr. K.F. Rustamji who held high posts in Madhya Pradesh
Police as also in the Government of* India was an important
and vocal member of the National Police Commission(1977-81).
He once observed, ’’Political interference is not limited
to just transfers and suspensions. It includes illegality:
arresting the wrong man, releasing the wrong man, not
taking notice of a crime, not taking action against a dada
184
backed by politicians - all those actions that cut at the
root of impartial policing. And on^e you encourage the
police to do that, then they find their own ways of util
ising it for corruption and oppression”.
Every word uttered by Mr. Rustamji in the first two senten
ces quoted above is very true. I have myself been subjected
to this kind of harassment and such pressures, and can end
orse his views on the basis of personal experience. . But
the last sentence is only partially correct. j would rather
say: The police, at least many of them, have a long tradition
of themselves committing wrongs as also indulging in crime.
The politician in power, or the representative of the people
who is supposed to oversee police activities on behalf of
the citizens of India for keeping them on the right track,
is either himself a criminal or actively encourages the
police to commit wrongs. Consequently police oppression
and crimes committed by the police have increased manifold.
What is true of the police is also true of the bureaucracy
as a whole to a certain extent. One can say, therefore,
that the politician and the bureaucracy including the law
enforcement agencies have joined hands in enforcing the
rule not of law but of the criminal.
Criminalisation of politics in India can be attributed to
what Dr. S.B.L. Bharadwaj of Hyderabad aptly calls the
emergence of 'turbulent and transient society’ in India
after independence. According to him, a social system is
said to be in a state of turbulence when frequent and
unpredictable upheavals are taking place in it; established
social structures, institutions, traditions and life-styles
are being questioned, protested against or violated; and
there is a lot of ambiguity, inconsistency and uncertainty
about the present state or the future directions of the
system. Transience implies the state of continuous rejection
of continually evolving alternatives in values and lifestyles; it is a feeling of impermanence of all choices and
loyalties. No norms secure acceptance for a length of.time.
People are swayed by mass hysteria for fads, cults, whims
and appropriate slogans. It is a psychological state of
continuous search and rejection of momentary beliefs,
experiments' and nonconformity.
One tendency, however, seems not to be so transient. While
every value system is crumbling down, the urge for ’the
grab’ is all pervading. ILand reform movements are older
than the dawn of freedom. But along with the laws enacting
land reforms by popular legislatures ran a parallel move
ment for land grab. In the north Indian states, land
reforms were seldom implemented. The situation was only
185
slightly better in the s.
•'
southern
states. Dishonest implementation of land reforms imade the transition
from
- ---- 1 a feudal
to a modern society so difficult”that
new
tensions
Ihe upper castes who enjoyed almost a monopoly over arose,
land
opposed land reforms tooth and nail. The upper castes
of
north India enjoyed also'a monopoly over the administration,
Upper caste politicians .
upper caste bureaucrats joined
hands to frustrate land and
reforms and gave a moral basis for
land grab by the landlessJ lower castes.
Dror some years
the tide to reforms could be
,.
partially
stemmed.
Police
and revenue officials ;actively
'.1
helped the landowning classes
to hold on to their small domains,* ~
» But this could not go
ciousr
+S the 10Wer< castes
became
---- politically cons—
Clous, conflicts arose. What_
J v.uu
could not be prevented by
administrative and legal trickery
„ was sought to be achieved
by what Karlekar describes
■hnH
4-^
S
the
power of the gun. North
India became the ?land of the rising
gun. Dacoit gangs led
by caste leaders f
wldesPread support from fesfect!ve
caste groups. Thus Brahmans and Thakurs
engaged in a
seemingly never-ending struggle with the Yadavp?
Kurmis and Mallahs in Uttar Pradesh ‘
’ Ah i r s
P^rts
of
which
have
been dacoit-infested for decades. In*the nc' '’
""
5
neighbouring
Bihar, other castes are also involved and politics"
.
xP0J-iti^J
crime run on parallel lines. TT
irics and
Neerja Chowdhury of 'The
Statesman' ruefully observed in- —
herr 'A Case Study: Roots
ox violence in Bihar (1981)', ”A' criminal in Bihar is no
longer just a criminal. He is a hero of his caste and
n
---- —1 has
a place m politics. G-anesh^Singh
C
and Shivdhari have in
for
funds5 j which are forthcoming.
■nfact issued printed appeals
“
- ---People dare not refuse”. Many must have paid their cont
ribution not exactly out of fear.
g
. could
..'-J ras~ •ell
they
,_1 1'l>°0dwltS-“thPoitsiae!’the!!’’’-',°1' fuiias'
law at the behest Of rival castes
bli^pH0KeS+£f Sllesed dacoits> and other criminals were
blinded by the police with the
authorities and magistrates, ’ active connivance of -jail
involved in these blindings, i very senior officers were
curiously, after all), the po~
ous crimes in utter violation <
Coin issued by Government of India soon after the
0 nstitution was passed. The third principle in this
directive reads, 'The Police should recognise and respect
the limitations of their powers and functions. They should
not usurp or even appear to usurp the functions of the
juaiciary and sit in judgement on cases. Nor should they
avenge individualvcrime or seek to punish the guilty’.
In other words, /the principle reiterates the well known
tact that the police are not the judiciary. It is not for
them to pronounce a judgment. They have only to place the
facts as they are, before the judiciary. It is not for
thereto take upon themselves the duty of avenging real or
imaginary wrong done to themselves, to other individuals
i
-
186
r even the State, and inflict punishment on persons whom
they consider to be guilty. Yet few police officers in
the country felt outraged over what had happened in Bihar
The Ministry of Home Affairs in New Delhi did not find it
necessary to once again draw the attention of the state
ments and the police units in India to the Principles
of Police Conduct issued during the times of Jawahar Lal
Nehru and Sardar Patel. Not unexpectedly, the police crim
inals of Bihar received much sympathy from politicians.
One senior officer holding the rank of a Deputy Inspector
General wf Police who helped expose the crimes was summarily
transferred and humiliated.
If the Union and State governments encouraged the police
to engage in so-called encounters against the alleged
Naxalites in different areas of the country, they could
not but be blind to the Bihar blindings. Detailed accounts
of the seemingly fake encounters have'’appeared in the press.
She initiative in this matter was taken by Ex-Justice
Mr. V.M. Tarkunde and the committee headed by him came
across some horrifying details. Since then many other
reports have also been published. Some of the ironies
of the situation was that soon after the police chief of
Uttar Pradesh waxed eloquent on the achievements of the
police in liquidating dacoit gangs in his State and assured
the people that the State shouldthereafter be relatively
free from this kind of crime, a High Court judge and brother
of the U.P. Chief Minister was killed by a gang, and poor
Vishwanath Pratap Singh felt too' overwhelmed to continue
in his office.
Fake^
*
*killings
—
— encounters
—with
wxuii alleged
ariegea dacoits
aacoits —- c~
especially
of those apprehended by the police under
the
garb
of
S
under the garb of
encounters - and the Bihar blindings are but an example of *
the type of a transient society described by Dr. Bharadwaj
The principles of police conduct are based on some basic
values which are being flouted with impunity.
|yce, the/i1 960's ,th2 .student and youth movements have
have also
also
been based on rejection of all norms and for the ------solej purpur
pose of grabbing jobs and degrees. When I was in the Intlligence Bureau, I had to analyse various causes of student
unrest. Among others the main themes were Tno compulsory
attendance, right to copy during examinations, no invigilation, guaranteed degrees and guaranteed jobs’. These
These
themes are no longer as serious as they were during the
last decade and earlier. But a whole generation of polit
icians arose during these days. They are still active in
many parties. Some of them hold important jobs in the
administration and industry. Their strong arm methods
received political support. They were handy at the time
of elections. They had no use for the concept of Rule of
ap '
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■ - during,.-student agitations' become on ^^r^do
■ s^-^owing
When student; and ywth movehonts'
spectacle.
.
grabbing; of degrees and Jobs Slough vtoWut^^?-^
. ideology was givenia- go-bye ; ■ ’ Oniv^thoWolvb
>
cared for any ideology!' They well; disillusiolef
democracy in.practice and some.of them became self-nroeloimed
.followers of Man Tse Tung. ■ Naxolite movement amon.g®stSent '
i .and-.yQPth;.wa.s^populef in West' Bengal, : Andhra'. Era def hand a
.few. other states. They sought .political power, through'tbl
-barrel of the-gun-and detested right or loft communists
■iSince then,' the leftist farties' found it more and'morel'
.aiiricult to attract .educated youth to 'their -Fold. The
. scum gathered round the ruling parties. ■I ' ' ''. I' atr'
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It was "no owond er, therefore, when the Youth Congress'
■beca.me^notQhious. for gangsterism, .it has ma into infd this
reputation since 1978. • No -all' Ind ia’ convention ' of the Youth
.Congress pr its junior 'wing, 'the National Students’"fnion
°£ £?d;ls’ fails to strike terror among the railway and other
stall-keepers, railway ticket inspectors and generally the
peonle residing at the venue of the convention. The one
at Nagpur a few months ago did not leave even the prostitutes
alone. The M.h.A.s hostel where a large number of NSUI
delegates were accomodated was ransacked by the delegates
causing a loss of over Rs. 60,000 to the State Exchequer.
These hoodlums are the current and future politicians of
the country.
vtf + I!uOUkfrOritiis also not free from the -grab’ mania
Wat the theorists call economism is nothing short of a
perpetual agitation for higher wages, larger bonuses and
lower productivity. I have been witness to any number of
violent demo*nstrations by organised labour.
The filthy
USe ar}d the shocki^g slogans they repeat in
the harshest voices are something one has to experience
for oneself. The leaders of many such trade unions are
active politicians, Fortunately, unlike in the other
iields, there ?r^ many exceptions. But the leaders of sober
trade unions are usually away from politics. The politician
trade unionists have been engaged in a never-ending race
for grabbing unions controlled by rival politicians and,
many a time, even those run by leaders who are apolitical.
This trade union rivalry has led to gangsterism and mob
violence including murders.
The Sombay policemen who have been witness to labour
gi --ations for decades aped trade union violence when
they themselves struck work in August 1982,
In th« Dadar
Worli area, they ran berserk, erected traffic barriers,
forcibly stepped vehicles and indulged in general lawless
ness. They were prompELy joined by anti-social elements
.,.11 , I |
> -i-j.
i
'
I IF'.'.
-I1’-
1/88
and within a short time the people in the area found their
daily routine completely disturbed. The
__ united front betD_
ween some of the striking policemen and the anti-social^V
elements was an unprecedented spectacle which caused horror.
The ex-0hief Minister was, a
L Lh time,
1‘
atthe
roundly accused of
having encouraged trade unionism among the police, Many
acts of violence were attributed to the delinquent sons of
policemen.
The Phanbad coal field is notorious for its mafia gangs.
The Mafias control the mines labour and
~d are politically
very influentio 1. They are connected not only with leaders
of the ruling party but also with the opposition leaders.
One of them is a close associate of an opposition leader and
secured a ticket from him to contest Lok Sabha elections.
During the course of the recent election campaign it was
revealed that a large number of candidates with a shady
past had been put up by some parties including, of course,
the ruling party. Since their names have appeared in the
Press there is no point in repeating these details.
Criminalisation of politics is affecting the whole social
structure. A chief minister publicly admitted that he was
powerless and felt helpless on account of the close links
between criminals and politicians. Communal riots were1
engineered by smugglers to uproot hutment dwellers and to
grab their lands in Bhiwandi and parts of Bombay. The
police arrested the smugglers who were involved but these
were let off by the state Government. A you4"h Congress
leader in league with some security men converted the
premises of Bombay1s'Raj Bhavan into a smuggling den; part
of the seashore within Raj Bhavan premises was used as a sa
safe landing place for boats carrying contraband. During
the course of investigation it was found that a member of
a big trust established by the son of the Chief Minister
was receiving this contraband and storing it away at Sangli.
The son was granted a Congress ticket for contesting Lok
Sabh« elections and he won by a handsome margin. In Maha
rashtra , the High Court had to intervene and force the
State Government to revise the list ofHonorary ^^ive
Magistrates because many of those,"
were shady characters with a criminal record. Maharashtra
Government appointed a lawyer on the panel of government
advocates though this very lawyer was convicted earlier
for attempting to bribe the court. I have deliberately
chosen instances from Maharashtra which is not as much
affected as some of the states in the north where things
are much worse. Police
in West Bengal feel equally
helpless even if the ruling party in the state is CPiVM/.
Gang wars in which both the gangs have powerful support
from one or the other leader of CPI(M) are. not uncommon.
In a recent case, the victim (also belonging to the same
party) had to arrange intervention from the Home Minister
Tto persuade the police to take action1.
I
i ■
”
,1
'I
i
I >'a )(! ,
1
189
The late Jayaprakash Narain tried to tackle the problem of
dacoits through change of heart' and persuaded many of
them to surrender. Even this novel method was exploited
by poiiticians. As noted by Rajiv Tiwari in his article,
The Power Game", (Times of India, 4th
April 1982) m U.P., 'Backward dacoits are shot. Thakur
a
sur?ender.' The newspapers flashed two years ago
•- strange story. The relations between the U.P. chief
minister and the M.P. chief minister became sore over the
issue of surrender of dacoit queen Phoolan Devi (Also vide
K.R. Sundar Rajan's article, "The Politics of Dacoity",
Nagpur Times, 23rd February 1983).
When the government of the people has been converted bv
the rulers into a government of the criminals, for the
criminals and by the criminals, it is no surprise that
bright students are drawn to Nazalism and not-so-bright
students owing allegiance to various Sikh factions wield
the gun to carve out a separate state outside Indian
frontiers. It should also cause no surprise that Sikhs
were butchered in India’s capital city under the leadership
of some leaders of the ruling party'!
ISI DOCUMENTATION CENTRE,
Post Box Nt: 4623,
24, Benson Road,
BANGALORE - 560 046.
FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION
Source: CRIME AND POLITICS
IN
INDIA
by
V. V. NAGARKAR,
The Radical HUMANIST,
March '35,N PP
pp.»
15-17.
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Z-SZ DOCUMENTATION CENTRE,
Pos t Box - 4628,
BANGALORE - 56O O46.
!
■
i
• .4 ■,
31 st. October 1985
Dear Friend,
A most disturbing factor in Today's India is the rapid
”criminalisation ” of political life.The review "Radical Humanist”
recently had a special issue on this ques^ion.Wo are reproducing here
3 articles from that special issue J
1
A-:
ID INDIA ,by V.V• Nagarkar. This poses the problem
in broad perspectives.
2a LUMPEN ELEhjENTg IN OUR POLITICS, by Moin Shakir. The author brings out
how politicians find in some ohr slums the material they, need for
their politics of intimidation.
5^CRIMIiULISATICN OF CAMPUS POLITICS, by K.C. Gupta- It is a description
of what is happening on the campus of our universities with increased
frequency.
All the thre articles underlines the dnager of tnis phenomenon for
the democratic institutions of the country.Some nave soon in this
phenomenon the clear signs of the advance of facist forces.
We have also induced in this dispatch a document on Action groujbs.
This analysis further initiate reflections on an Larcady widely
debated subject due title of the articles is
4. VOLUNTARY A'T.:C1ES, IDENTITY CRISIS, by Abhijit Dbattachar jec.
It has appeared in ”Mainstream, July 27? 1985Witli beet x-vishes
ISI DOCUMENTATION CENTRE
7
»?
J
COMMUNITY HEA( TH CELL
32o, V Main, I Block
Koram-cngala
THE PRESENT POLITICAL SITUATION IN INDIA Bangalore-560034
Rajiv Gandhi Era
India
The following is a talk given by A jit Roy to our three months
course participants in early November 1985-
I have tried to jot down some major problems to explain and to expose,
so to say, one of the major enigmas of Indian Politics which is the
phenomonon of Rajiv Gandhi. I call it an enigma because, despite many
negative features facing the nation, including thinking sections of
the population, there seems to be some sort of a powerful charm that
this young Prime Minister exercises over the people where
he draws
in applause from all around. If you have seen the newspapers and
heard the All India Radio broadcasts including especially the added
programme on the First Year of Rajiv Gandhi’s rule, you may have seen
how the newspaper editors, journalists, academics and specialists in
various subjects, have all come out in effusive praise over the first
year of his rule. And maybe even one’s own estimate (one cannot deny
that) that quite a large part of the Indian people today, seem to
appreciate not only Rajiv Gandhi’s handsome face, but also what he has
been doing during this short brief period of his rule. So much charm
does he exercise over the political world in India and abroad, if one
. .is to believe the newspapers and mass ne dia; that even Ramakrishna
Hegde, who is the Leader of the Opposition Janata Party and Chief
Minister of Karnataka State; some days ago when he was speaking at the
Press Club in New Delhi was gushing in praise of Rajiv Gandhi. He
said that Rajiv Gandhi had been modelling himself after his grandfather
Nehru and expected justice, equality and all sorts of virtuous respon
ses from him. Apart from this public appreciation - positive, gushing,
effusive - there is one negative feature which also points in the same
direction, that is, the absence of any sort of critical response from
the Opposition Parties, including the Communist Parties, on any effec
tive scale on any issue of major importance in Indian politics. I
heard ope of the journalists speaking on the radio, saying that Rajiv
Gandhi has robbed the oppostion of the weapons they deserve. Now this
seems to be true because one does not find any sort of left-spons»red
radical movement taking place in the country on any of the major
issues, though there are no shortage of major issues in the country to
agitate about - whether it is price-rise, whether it is the new laws
for throttling democracy or various other policy shifts like opening
the door to multinationals, the giving of incentives to big business;
there has not been much of vigorous criticism and far less, any sort
of movement or any sort of attempt to mobilise the people on any of
these critical issues, affecting our lives. So, apparently one can
come to a conclusion that somehow or the other, Rajiv Gandhi has been
able to capture the imagination of the Indian people and has been able
to manouevre in such a way, that all the oppostion parties have been
if not deserved, atleast in a quandry; they can’t find any sort of
effective path for mobilising the people on any of these major issues
of daily life and on issues of political evolution in the country.
In this short presentation, I will try to find out the secret behind
Rajiv Gandhi’s successes in this direction, of disarming the opposition
2
and mobilising some sort of widespread popular support, behind his
policies and practices.
This .is because., (this-is my understanding)- Rajiv Gandhi has been able
to forge some new ideological weapOii with which lie has been able to
create an illusion, a false consciousness, some sort of euphoria that everything is coming out alright and the nation is moving in the
right direction. All this is due to his ideological impact on the
So the substance of my talk this afternoon will be
Indian polity,
to identify the ideological weaponl, the ideological tactics that
to identify the' operational in
Rajiv Gandhi has evolved and, talso
--strument with.which he carries forward has ideological offensive
against the people and against the radical opposition in the country.
This is very important because 'since you have already passed through
more than half of the course here, you must have grasped the import
ance of ideology in its socio-economic and political life. It is
only through ideological, if not only,'I would say that it is pri
marily through ideological influence and domination that a ruling
class can legitimize: its rule and thereby, safeguard its political
domination. So-in order to understand*the nature and strength of a
particular political regime, one-has to find out its roots and sources
of its strength in an ideological influence that a particular regime
has been able to qxercise and spread. Unless we .are able to locate
these sources of strength in a particular ideology we would be unable
to effectively combat the regime at the^political level. Therefore,
we would all be really disarmed in the face of the political offen
sive of the ruling class.
So our first job here, would be to expose the ideological smokescreen
which Rajiv Gandhi has been able to spray and to see through the waves
of this ideological smokescreen the political direction that the re
gime is taking. On that basis only, we will be able to formulate and
devise our own counter—strategy and to modulate our own ideology for
effective tackling of this particular ideological offensive.
To my mind, Rajiv Gandhi1s ideology at the moment centers around
three very crucial issues in national politics. These issues whose
crucial• importance is realised by most of the thinking political
masses. Issues centering around the (1 ) unity of the Indain people’s
diverse population, people differing in terms of language, culture,
and in terms of ethnic origin inhabiting this v st country and num
bering nearly 700 million. Everybody’s concerned about the growing
threat to the unity of this country and the conflicts and clashes
sometimes taking the form of violence, riots and all sorts of violence
which is growing. Second, though there may not be any serious object
ive basis for this concern, the ruling class has long been able to
create a sort of apprehension in the minds of the people about the
security of the country - so national.unity first, then national
security. Thirdly, economic development - the question of being able
to feed and to clothe and- to offer the minimum standard of living to
the growing population which is already very large. These are 5
crucial areas in our national l.ife- which is seen and recognised by
everybody in the country as major, areas "of concern.
Now Rajiv Ga'ndhi .has sei-zed on all these- 5 areas and given them a
3
particular twist and presented the issues in a new, slightly differ
ent form with a different emphasis to project a particular view of
the problem on the basis of which he would be able to exercise his
political domination. A nd along with these 5 ideological issues
of the same importance are: the operational instrument to carry
forward these ideological issues to the masses and also behind this
ideological smokescreen to carry out those tasks which the ruling
class feels to be most fundamental to its class rule. There again,
3 major operational instruments which they are trying to forge.
Those instruments are, first of all, a new form of mass communication
system, including both in terms of media and in terms of message.
They are trying to create a change of new forms of mass communication
media to reach people in different parts, in a very powerful manner
and using this media to impart to the people certain new ideas, cer
tain new conceptions which will be helpful and which will be actually
serving their class rule and class interests. This is number one.
Number two is a new form of management/administration which would
deprive the people more and more of any effective share in the
decision making process and make them just targets of operation in
the hands of the ruling class. And thirdly, since the ruling class,
Rajiv Gandhi and his big brass of Tthink-tank’ whatever you might
call it, those specialists who advise Rajiv Gandhi on various matters,
all realise that this ideology and fa2.se consciousness will increas
ingly come into contradiction with the experience of the people in
daily life. So left to itself, they will not be permanent, they will
only be short-lived and ultimately they will have to fall back on
brute force, on repression, on suppression and restricting the demo
cratic rights and the channels of democratic protests. So, alongwith
these two operational instruments they are also all the time aware
of the need of forging new elements of coalition
of an authoritari—
tarian system of government v/±th which they oan, in the final analy
hold down the people with force. So these are the 3 major
sis, noiu
ideological currents which they have been trying to propound in a
very powerful manner and these are the 3 operational instruments
with which they are trying to devise, to create and to operate also
in a powerful manner. Unless we are able to see through this veil,
we would be helpless in the face oi the growing offensive, this
ideological and political offensive serving the economic interests
of the ruling class. We will be unable to warn the people before
hand of the dangers looming ahead and we will be unable to organise
the people for offering any effective resistance against these new
waves of offensive ideology.
Kow I will try to develop the sudden change in these 3 ideological
issues. As I said earlier, this issue of national unity is very
important to the mass mind. Because of the fact that we are all
tied up with so many links with one another - economic, cultural,
historical and most of all, during the long period of the national
freedom movement of about a century and a little more, the people
of India became conscious of the need for national unity from
Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Gujarat to Assam, not beyond that,
you know the North-East was never a part of India - historical India io was annexed by the Congress regime after Independence. The origin
al conception of Indian unity, as with regard to the freedom movement,
4
related to the geographical area starting from Kashmir to Kanykumari
and fron Gujarat to Assam. But even then, it is a huge country with
so much diversity. There are, as each one of us know, first of all
quite a lot of linguistic differences, so many languages are spoken
within this country. Then there are many ethnic differences also,
difforentating people from one region to another. And within this
geographical framework, we have innumerable tribes who have a distinct
identity of their own and even apart from the tribes within the socalled developed region, we have the so-called harijans or dalits,
who have always been left out of the path of our civilisation except
for using them as beasts of burden or for exploiting purposes. So,
we have inh.rited a huge problem of forging a national unity compris
ing all these diverse elements of the Indian people. On the one
hand, in our hearts, we all aspire towards a united India, on the
other hand, we all know that wo are divided by so many factors, reli
gion, caste, language, ethnic factors, so this is the problem which
has always worried our people, and therefore the bourgeois leadership
of the country has always made use of this urge for unity, to exer
cise their domination. It has always been there. It is not that
Rajiv Gandhi is the first Indian political leader of the bourgeoisie
to make use of it, but th^re is a difference in the sense that ear
lier, from Gandhi to Nehru to Indira Gandhi they all talked of nat
ional integration but always with some awareness of the basic problems
of India. Today, Rajiv Gandhi and his political advisers, to them,
the real socio-political roots of diversity h^.s become unimportant,
they don’t really bother nbout the major differences in real life,
which promotes some clashes and contradictions among the people. They
are now trying to emphasise the need for na tional integration, not
only on the basis of a serious needed change among the people, not
on the basis of affecting major corrective measures, which would re
move the differences and roots of conflict among the people, but try
to forge all elements ef Indian people into an existing mould there is a readymade mould, provided by political structures, by
social structures. So Rajiv Gandhi’s effort to promote national
integration, moans forcing all the people into the existing social
mould which will retain all the economic inequalities and injustices
and cultural domination, which is traditionally exercised by
Brahmanical Hinduism and making people a part of this mould dominated
by the existing bourgeois rule and dominated by the existing ideologi
cal traditional heritage of Brahmanical Hindusim. This is his
solution - to the challenge of national unity. Many of you must be
viewing the TV these days, it has become a very powerful medium about this I will come back later. You nay have seen, to what extent
Hindu religious functions and ceremonies have become a major item of
TV telecast.
In Calcutta, during the Pooja days for 3 days, half
the Tv news time was spent on pujas. First of all in the News item
they would show this Durga Puja or Dusserha celebrations in various
parts of the country. Then there was a special news feature about
this, and then for 4 days Ran Lingha occupied an hour's programme.
Of all issues of major importance to the Hindu Brahmanical cultural
system, you will find radio and TV devoting a disproportionate amount
of tine to imbue the people with not only religious values but also
a sense of religious domination of the Hindus over the rest of the
country.
So this is one aspect which is a twist to the old idea of
national leadership. Evon in Gandhi1s tine, even in Nehru and Indira
Gandhi's time, they used to do the sane thing, but on a subdued scale,
5
but this time Rajiv Gandhi’ s whole approach is to make this a sort
of powerful barrage based on these Indian images to subjugate primarily the Hindu masses, They know that this is not going to win
then the support of the non-Hindus. As a matter of strategy, they
have decided, since the Hindus are in a formidable majority, if they
are able to consolidate the majority of the Hindus on the basis of
these religious messages, images and concepts, then that gives then
a vory powerful and stable political position. This has been going
on for quite sone tine. During the lastyears of Indira Gandhi~she~
also made use of these Hindu-religious concepts, images and messages
to consolidate her political support. This has been taken forward
to a considerable extent, by the new style of Rajiv Gandhi’s ideolo
gical offensive and this ha s become a kind of perversion of national
unity
unity, to serve the divisive role of the bourgeois leadership. They
have now made a target of the Hindu mind, more particularly in the
Hindusthani mind to create a very stable base on the basis of which
they hope to dominate to a lesser or greater extent to serve the
country.
Similarly, national security, this was always of sone concern to the
leadership who tried to project it as a major concern because this
is justified in the government’s spending of certain considerarble
amounts of our national resources to national defence and para-mili
tary forces. According to the budget itself, we spend 4% o** our
gross national product on national defence and this includes the para
military forces which are also as good as -military or army, except
for the name. They have the same weapons, they have the same logistic
support, they have everything in ;conmon except that one is called
Central Reserve Police or Border Security Forces, the other is called
Army. There is very little difference. If we add together the
amounts spent on para-military forces alongwith the defence, then
the total might
come upto 6, 7, or &/o of our gross national
product. That is about 1/3 of our gross national savings each year.
So, this goes for expenditure on these forces. This has always been
there-.
°his issue of national security is made
much of by the ruling classes on two grounds:
one international foreign relations•and the other national, And they are very closely
inter-related. Internationally, the fact that Pakistan is getting
very large amount of US military aid. In the next 3^-4 years,
Pakistan will get 3 million dollars of US military aid. And secondly,
Pakistan is really making, not verysecret, rather a semi-open attempt
to make a nuclear bomb. So these two developments are seen as a
groat threat to the security of India and therefore India supposedly
has to step up its expenditure on national defence and increasingly
the demand is also being made, For example: The Khalistan movement
and many other divisive forces within this country, They are reported
to bo sending saboteurs to the Kashmir border - they are sending
. trained Khalistani Sikh saboteurs through Punjab border and they
are also supposed to be in touch with various other divisive forces.
So national security first of all by making adequate preparations to
face the military threat. Secondly, and more importantly, to develop
counter-intelligence security moas ures within the country for
tackling this threat to Indian security from within the country, in
league with foreign sources. So these are the new ideas which are
being very powerfully projected and spread by the ruling regime.
6
largo element of truth.
military and'politic.il pressure on India. There is no denying the
fact that Pakistan is also very near the point where it can, explode
a nuclear device. But the point is whether India should enter into
an arms race to- meet this threat or whether India has opted for.
other political avenues to meet this challenge, by other non-military
methods. This is a very important issue which we will have to face
in the next few months or years.
First of rail, lot us take up this nuclear issue first, because every
day it grows in importance and becomes a very crucial issue - a
‘
‘
, Lot us not forget that this
striking issue of national importance.
betweeh
India
and
Pakistan
was started by India, not by
1 ,1
rce b_—__ —
In
the
year
1974
under
Indira
Gandhi’s regime,
Pakistan.
regime India very
nuclear
device
and exploded it
successfully and secretly prepared a i------ —
’
,
It
is
since then
in the forefront area of the Rajasthan desert,
l
this
issue
for its own
that the Pakistan ruling class seized upon ihl
J
that
if
they
could focus
political purpose, because they thought
this
nuclear
threat
from
India,
then they c
the public attention on a.— ----------could exercise a similar domination over the Pakistani masses and to
develop the armed forces which would keep down the people of Pakistan
effectively. Z. Ali Bhutto in his foolishness, made use of this first
in order to ensure his political survival. But we all know the sup
reme price that he had to pay for it, in the gallows, because this
issue was taken up by the army and ultimately Z. Ali Bhutto was hanged.
Now, this whole business is a political device used by the Pakistani
ruling class to create in the minds of the people the supreme role
that the Pakistani military is playing and has to play, for the.
security of Pakistan and for which they demand all sort of sacrifice,
economic and political, including total suppression of the democratic
rights of the people of Pakistan. Anyway that is history. Suppose
Pakistan is able to explode one nuclear device somewhere in China.
The story is that this device will be exploded in China. Because
as we had this large Rajasthan desert, where we could explode the
bomb yet escape from the nuclear fall-out. But Pakistan does not
have this vast waste land in
geographical area. So for explo
sion, for experimental explosion, it is supposed to be seeking
Chinese aid and is trying to explode it in China. Suppose it is able
to explode one or two devices, what difference would it make? First
of all, this bomb for its very geographical reason cannot be made use
of by Pakistan. Because India and Pakistan have a common geographical
boundary. So if there is a bomb explosion or nuclear explosion in
Punjab or Delhi, the wind will blow the nuclear fall-out to Pakistan
itself. Her own people will be in danger. Therefore, any sane or
sober person can see that the geographical location of the two count
ries makes it totally unuseable by Pakistan and India. Secondly, we
don’t have very friendly relations with China and China has developed
not only the atomic bomb but a powerful hydrogen bomb. But does that
mean that India is at a disadvantage of any sort in dealing with them?
Not at all! Because even after 10 years since Pakistan has developed
this hydrogen bomb, India has not yielded to the slightest degree in
the tug-of-war with China towards disputed territory. The same sort
of powerful dogmatic position with regard to Our dispute with China,
despite the fact that they have not one, but dozens, not only of
nuclear atomic bombs, but also hydrogen bombs.
- 7
Thirdly, as any student of present international politics knows,
neither the United States nor Soviet Union, neither Pakistan nor
India can in today’s very delicately balanced political situation,
can make use of any sort of nuclear weapon. It is impossible!
The moment one makes any use of this, that country would be totally
isolated and it would become a ’pariah’ in the modern world, the
real harijan in the international world, and therefore, it is
absolutely ineffective as a bargaining instrument. So what is the
essence of this clamour hbout Pakistan's nuclear weapon? It has
its internal political view. The issue here is that we are in a
very dangerous situaticn, surrounded by enemies. Therefore, each
and every patriotic Indian has to rally round the Indian government,
has to always cry, 1 Ra.jiv Gandhi ke jai’, therefore any dissenting
opinion, whether it is CPU - The ’Citizens for Democracy’ which
exposed the atroenties on the Sikhs in Amritsar, or whether it is
one journalist who also exposed photographs of the atrocities, the
moment they do this, they are hauled upK they are persecuted for
endangering Indian security.’ The Government does not challenge that
CF‘D and'this journalist? whatever they reported that were true, no
the Government does not say that they are sending false reports
but-by revealing certain truths, they are supposed to be endangering
national security. Therefore, a time will come, when the people will
organise a morcha, hero in Karnataka on the demand of lowering the
prices, the same law of endangering nfitional security would be used
against you, because by raising this demand you are creating problems
of national unityr national unity which is their class need, bearing
round Rajiv Gandhi for whatever ho is. Therefore, this national
security today, has become a sort of a new weapon in the hands of the
ruling class with which it seeks to, first of all, to form new
instruments for enslaving the people's minds and enslaving people by
forging new laws and all sorts of new methods of controlling their
action.
The main tl.ingis that National Security is being used as
a new ideologic^*1 weapon by Rajiv Gandhi and the new Government, in
order to act on the people's minds and to create all sorts of weapons
to curb .nass action..
Economic Development : Indian people have always been concerned
about poverty. Smarting with Nehru since Independence, right down
to Indira Gandhi, they expressed concern over removal of poverty.
Economic development in the interest of the masses has changed to
modernisation and high technology management. This will benefit only
a small segment of the population. Computerisation is growing on
a large scale. In the name of modernisation, new Japanese cars
have come on the market. So instead of economic-broad-based develop
ment, what we have is a new influx of big multinationals, to offer
products of high technology which can be used and purchased only by
the rich and super-rich. Colour TV, VCR which is coming in a very
big way to cater to the paper-thin minority at the top of society
and which means the domination of powerful international monopolies
in the form of big multinationals over the economy, which means the
distortion of the consumer pattern, which gives a new life style for
the super-rich, comparable only to the affluent consumer society,
like in Japan.
So these are the mjor ideological issues used by Rajiv Gandhi to
create a new constituency of supporters within the country, and
8
in order to carry forward these ideological concepts, ideas, he is
using new operational instruments. There are many aspects. First
of all, the new type of the use of mass media. It was originally
conceived of by Indira Gandhi, but maybe she didn’t think of it at
this rapid rate of expansion. At the moment, a poor country like
India, do you know how many TV s;.ts there are in India? I am told
that at the moment there are 5 million TV sets/50 lakh sets that
we already have and it is estimated that 1 TV set generally serves
an a verage of 10 persons - so 50 million Indians are open to the
suggestions and messages transmitted by the TV network. And the
government has planned to spread community TV sets in rural areas.
It will be set up in the Panchayat Hall or Community Hall in the
working class slum, where hundreds of people come together to view
this programme. At the moment the total number of TV viewers is
estimated to be much higher than the readers of newspapers. And
if this rate of expansion goes on gor sone time, ^then TV will be the
opinion maker and TV is much mor^/because people/ "I have seen with
my own eyes how Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi took a small dirty child from
a tribal hut and clasped him to their breasts and you people come
and tell us that they are only serving the rich and super rich. You
are a traitor - you deserve to be imprisoned, tried and may be hanged’ .
Even this is the type of operational instrument that they are follow
ing. Secondly, how is the TV expansion being financed and what sort
of so-called ’software’ - TV programmes do they offer? The programmes
are paid for by multinationals and Indian Big Business Houses. First
of all, whenever there is a programme presented by this firm - at
the beginning and at the end of the programme, there will be an
acknowledgement - that, ’’This part of the programme was sponsored
by - say VIMAL”. They also show their software - sparkling suits,
boots, perfumes - thereby the common people wotild be tempted to
acquire this latest fashionwear. And the whole psychological growth
would be distorted, they start from the beginning of the programme
which goes on to the end - all through the transmission time they
are exposed to this type of bombardment , to this type of viewing,
which is producing a temptation, a hankering for the so-called
glamour of high living.
E arlier, the Greek scholars and sages put
before humankind ths way of simple living and high thinking - now
the new ruling class are trying to create in us a new breed of animals
where we would be unthinking and totally tempted by high, higher
and the highest style of living. And then they show Ran Lingam, they
show Rajiv Gandhi three times a day - all that is there - apart from
this, the whole structure is built around a new imposition of a very
low culture based on glamour, based on high living style, devoid of
any intellectual content at all.
Now, of course, you may say that
sometimes they show a good film, because they know that if they
carry on with this undiluted rubbish, then nobody - no thinking
persons will switch on the TV at any tine. So in order to keep
them also tied to the TV sot, sometimes they have to show some
good film or the other. This is the second way of corrupting the
mind of the people to the superficial imagery of high living style,
which is the impossible form that our people can achieve at any time.
And which is not desirable for then to achieve at any cost.
A Now Style of Politics - In Gandhi’s tine and Nehru also, an
attempt was made to draw the masses into sone sort of political
participation. When he became Prine Minister, Nehru’s politics
/credible
//* will say
- 9 was not fully accepted. But whenever I heard a public speech by
him, before a gathering of 50,000, 1 lakh or 2 lakh people; whenever
he came to Calcutta; there was a gathering of 5 lakh people, he
always tried to put across some high principles of human civilization,
of the need for a certain democratic style of living and the need
for a sort of cultural enrichment of human life. This is inherent
in a political effort to move forward - so that more and more people
can be drawn into the political process though they may be kept
at the fringe.
The bourgeoisie, whether Gandhi or Nehru, did not
try seriously to put the people at the centre of the political
scene. No doubt about it. But with all their limitations, they
were all the time trying to educate the people in terms of certain
elementary democratic political values. And the elections - the
general elections was always a political battle where different
political issues were put across to the people who exercised their
franchaise on the basis of their own judgement. But, this last
general elections organised and led by Rajiv, did not have any real
political involvement of the people. The murder of Indira Gandhi
created the right climate for him - so National Security in the
crudest sense, bolstered up by an appeal to hindusized hindi,
cultural heritage that led people unthinkingly to swap the poll in
favour of Congress I and now they are trying to restrict the whole
political process to a sort of management at the top. We do not
have any effective personality at the top level of the Government
who had some experience of political participation. The people who
are now at the top arezmanagement experts - Arun Nehru, Arun Singh,
Rajiv himself, though he is not an expert in anything at all. He
is surrounded by experts who are specialised in the methods of
management where people are treated as inanimate objects to be mani
pulated and to bo dealt with in a particular manner to produce a
particular discord. This is a new style of politics which is coming
up. The whole basis of a very democratic political process where
people are allowed to develop their own subjective values, where they
are given some opening to arrive at some sort of a political decision
on the basis of their own judgment; all this is being gradually ne
gated and a sort of management technique is taking over, to run the
whole country as a multinational big business organisation, where the
computer system is fed with all the inputs and then
comes out with
its own formula which is applied in practice. Since they know that
all people may be fools for some time, some people may be fools for
all time, but all people cannot be fools for all time. Therefore,
they are not neglecting the final answer, which is terror, which is
repression. I don’t have to tell you all the new laws that they have
passed one after another, and how they have extended the life of these
laws by two years, including the National Security Act and the new
judgment in the Supreme Court, that a government employee can be dis
missed from service without asking for any explanation or giving an
opportunity to explain. All these things are the new weapons of
repression and are already being forced and over and above that, a
very significant development has taken place, at the time of re
shuffling of the Union Cabinet which one should note very carefully.
This is a setting up of a Ministry of Internal Security we nevei* had.
Only the Fascist countries had this. In Prussian Germany the Prime
Minister of Prussia, even before Hitler came to power first had a
I
10
Ministry of Internal Security and made him the co-ordinator of all
Polish policemen. So they have sot up a new Ministry of Internal
Security and put Arun Nenhru in charge of it. He has been given wide
powers and responsibilities to supervise and superintend all the
intelligence agencies, branches like CBI, RAW? para-military forces,
reserve police, border security forces, etc, etc. They are creating
a new instrument for the ultimate answer of keeping the people in
their place. This is the new style. Unless we are aware of this
new dimension, whatever we may learn from books or lectures w ill be
of very little value because we have to apply all our theoretical
knowledge in terms of the new developing situations. We have to
relate our previous knowledge to the developing situation and to
evolve the task on the basis of this combination. We have our
basics through the training courses, basic knowledge, basic intruments; we have to apply them to the developing situation and form
ulate our immediate task, on that basis only? we can develop a poli
tical current/political movement,, Unless we are able to do this,
we would be really helpless in the face of the developing mood.
Alongwith this, we must also be aware about another dimension, be
cause otherwise when faced with questions from the other dimension
would be lost, the issue of Foreign Policy of Rajiv Gandhi and
Congress (l) government.
Take the situation of Apartheid in South Africa. There is an attempt
on the part of some political elements to counter-pose the internal
situation and our analysis on the internal situation by this Foreign
Policy position. They say, 'you say that about Rajiv Gandhi, but
what about his Foreign Policy?1; as if they should necessarily be on
the same wavelength. Not at all. First of all, what is Foreign
Policy? Foreign Policy relates to the inter-relation between two
Sovereign states. Rajiv Gandhi cannot exercise police power or per
secute or harrass or imprison even the King of Bhutan, he has to
relate on a particular level in a particular style. Just because
he calls the King of Bhutan a brother and treats him as an equal it
doesn’t mean that he has to’ be a democrat within the country and
giving me or you the same sort of consideration. Therefore the two
things are at two different levels and they should not be counter
posed.
Secondly the dynamics of the political situation of the country is
dependent on the inner contradictions, how the country will develop
will ultimately be decided by the contradictions among the classes
of the Indian people. It will not be decided by the inter-relation
between India and Bhutan or Nepal and India or India and the Soviet
Union. The Soviet Union had very friendly relations with their next
door neighbour Turkey, throughout the whole post First World War
period. Turkey had a military dictatorship throughout this period.
So having diplomatic relations and living next door to the Soviet
Union has not helped the Turkish people, because they were weak to
counteract against their own ruling class. So most of the 6O/7O years
they have been held under the jackboot of military dictatorship in
Turkey. So how we live, how we develop would depend on the internal
contradictions within our society, on the classes and on the political
>
11
line. Therefore'the role-that Rajiv Gandhi is playing at the inter
national level does not have that relevance, to our struggle to have
internal democracy and internal economic development.
The role: that Rajiv has been playing or Indira Gandhi has been play
ing, at this level, is not something very unique, because the Common
wealth Heads of Government Conference which was held in Bermuda,
Canada and Australia and in Paris, not a very democratic country by
any dimension, they also took a very strong stand on Apartheid and
theSe countries together took a common position to confront Margaret
Thatcher. So it is possible that a very reactionary government like
Malaysia or a semi-imperialist government like the Australian govern
ment dan also adopt certain positions at the.international level,
which does not give them any sort of internally democratic progressive
character.
Thirdly, while Rajiv Gandhi has been taking a powerful position of
oppostion to nuclear arms race at the international level, look
at his position in terms of the internal situation. He says that we
keep our nuclear option open. So he has not ruled out the making
of a nuclear bomb, he does not say that as a believer.in nuclear
disarmament we are truly committed to keep off from nucleaf weapons.
We appeal to the world opinion, we appeal to_ the people^of Pakistan
to see to .it that Pakistan stops this nuclear arms making and there
by keep this sub-continent free from nuclear disarmament. H© does
not say that. He says we will keep the option open, if necessary
we will make the bomb. See how weakly rooted, is his oppostion to
nuclear armament and then also he says there is much talk about nonalignmen4’. But this non-alignment is also something very closely re
lated to the other dimensions of policy. Hajiv Gandhi himself says
in his talk with Foreign Nationals Correspondents Association, that
the USA has given the permission at the rate of principle to export
to India the super-bomb, but we are not keen on entering into an
agreement for importing sophisticated US arms. Why? Not for any
ground of principle, not for any ground of commitment to non-align
ment, not at all; because according to him, if we buy, United States
unilaterally stops exports of arms race, it is only for strategic
purposes that during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1 965 and 1971, we had
at that time mutual agreement with US for import of US arms, but
during the war US stopped exporting arms to both India and Pakistan.
Rajiv Gandhi says that because USA unilaterally stopped export of
arms during those critical times, we are not going for any sort of
agreement for importing arms from USA, otherwise this is not nonalignment in the true sense. It is because of our military policy
that we don’t get the bomb from US to that extent.
So our opposition to Rajiv Gandhi on the internal question doesn’t
mean that we don’t recognise what is of positive value in Rajiv’s
international policy. We do recognise and that has also one effect
ive lesson. The lesson is that because BJP or some other political
party like Lok Dal, which may be opposed to Rajiv Gandhi on the int
ernal question but who are pro-US, who want that India should develop
a nuclear weapon. We the people of the Left, should on no account
<
12
align with BJP or Lok Dal. We should oppose Rajiv Gandhi from a far
right position. Our appreciation of Rajiv Gandhi1s foreign policy
has one important lesson, that in terms of his foreign ptlicy, he
is more progressive than some of the other bourgeois parties. So
we should never make any sort of opportunist alliance with BJP fr
Lok Dal or some other party which may champion a pro-US foreign
pclicy or a pro-nuclear policy. This as a general rule, but then
again, if there is a crisis, when Rajiv Gandhi has already developed
into a sort of semi-fascist ruler, then we may not join hands as
partners but we may have to utilise some of these more reactionary
bourgeois parties also, in order to fight back. That is quite
principal. But in general, we should never let to any sort of support
to those political forces who opposed Rajiv Gandhi from.a far-right
position and who championed a pro-US, pro-imperialist or pre-nuclear
policy.
On the other hand, we <on the Left should be able to create a powerful independent movement con this f.'reign policy issu§
nuclear
disarmament of anti—imperialJ st opposition
—i to US intervention in
various part or to the issue of apartheid - the racial liberation
of the people of South Africa and South-West Africa. So that, we
don't have to toe Hajiv Gandhi and praise Rajiv Gandhi, but we are
in a position tocreate pressure for Rajiv Gandhi’s moving ahead on
is issue. So instead of posing this issue as a sort of counter
part or countermeasure to our internal policy decision, we should
make use of these issues to project an independent left position
which would be more consistent than Rajiv Gandhi, which would be
more principled than Rajiv Gandhi and there would be a sort of
1ink-up between our internal struggle for democracy and our foreign
policy struggle for anti-imperialism, for peace, for anti-apartheid
and racial discreraination. So, this is how I feel is the developing
situation.
To conclude, unless we, oufselves can see through the ideological
smokescreen that is being sprayed by the ruling alas s under'Rajiv
Gandhi s leadership and unless we are able to expose this to the
people of India and to develop their correct perception of the
prevailing situation we will not be able to combat the political
development, and if we are unable to combat this political develop
ment in economic terms, the people of India will be forced down
eeper and deeper into misery and deprivation and all this together
could create the need of the ruling class to destroy all vestiges
of democracy in our country and we will be facing terrorism.
THE HAVOC THAT TgE .WEST HAS
WITH
EASTERN AGRICULTURE
Some time back Edward Goldsmith, editor
'The Ecologist1, the London-based bi
monthly "Journal of the Post-Industrial
Age", visited Sri Lanka. He interviewed
a peasant, Mudilyanse Tenakoon, and came
to the conclusion: Traditional agriculure. m the Third W«rld is frequently
In fact itSXimit^e Knd ^productive,
future.
1 ffers the best h°Pe
the
“■4
Goldsmith went back and wrote in his
great journal:
’ -“S.
innSri0Lankaa PS°phet’ a Prophet of traditional
yra-n371 L3nka- He 1S also a farmer and liras in a sman
the ”ortheri’ P8rt
Pile Island. In reoent^ears
sXn£SHF“r-3 r
I was taken to see him by two people who fall in-t-n +k-
^SGpayil?sLe™rTly
aSd°
"rl IT
a civil servant
TdltioS
lg: in
notes.
*
Bpare “"f to
have reconstructed our conversations from my
Goldsmith: What is the size of the
average farm in this
Tenakoon
: The
—!r^ge fainily has Tess than two
land
-.7'\<aV
• The
The^richest
richest farmers have no more than fiveacres of
I personally haveJ an
an acre
acre of paddy "lul a gardaT acres.
Goldsmith: Are you self-sufficient?
•?
Tenakoon : I am afraid not. In my father^s day we were
very much more so. Today I must buy keresene
ker.Sen; for our ••
lamps as well as salt and- also clethes.
0
<?•
area ?
■ •'< ■
7; •
, |4>|,
•
-
Goldsmith: Bid
&e°:?
you never produce■these things yourself?
"I?
her „„ clothes eoo
the weeded area behind°the
cotton in the Chena burn cultivation
Je sufl de MUSSd for.slashand
there was no need for kerosene‘cnerver, in the past
Oil, extracted frM the outs
(S?)"
Goldsmith: Bid you use Mee oil for
cooking as well?
Tenakoon : Yes and also
for medicinal purposes.
used coconut oil.
We also
Goldsmith: Did
you have traditional bartering
with local artisans
arrangements
-J as fhey do in India?
a“l?°kLithe!i the J!!2geS0 theK *as both a potter and
We provided them
’’' food in
-.1 <with
nc-w we must buy theseJ f
things
we
don
’
t
get
the
clay
/
pots
y more and they were very useful.
_ T 11 I
'J
Goldsmith: What use did
you put them to in particular?
Tenakoon : Among other things '
used for storing
water. We used to
+n fm +k S they
“ were
bn-rr, 4+ WeT used
usea t0 fill
fill them with the chaff from
the
"-j paddy,
£L’„leave ^e cinders there for a
few hours,. <and then
wash them out and fill the pot with water.
water cool.
This kept the
Goldsmith: That is remarkable; v._
was this sort of knowledge
handed down to
-J you from father to
-J son?
Tenakoon : Of course.
teacher; otherwise he Every farmer is a res
researcher and a
could not be a farmer.
Goldsmith: How many varieties
<f rice did you use to grow
here ?
x° rsstir —
c. Wright, GllmpiS J?”2“i0? ?S?01trrae?S
varieties or rice were or?e oiltlZated f id)?
owk?h°rei orC?u??’i".123 ’srl=‘“s
“
Andrea
rice; „„
-
- ^4
Goldsmith: In what way did these varieties differ from
each other?
Tenakoon ; First of all, we needed different varieties for
the two growing seasons - the Maha season associated with
the North-East monsoon and the Yala season associated with
the South-West monsoon.
During the Maha season we planted, what we call the "four
month” varieties. As their name indicates, they take four
months to grow. During the Yala season we planted ’’three
month” varieties. Among the Maha varieties, I can remember
which was brown and white, Welle illangaliya,
TMurungakayam,
Hondarawala, Gangala and Beruwee. Among
‘
....
the
’three month”
varieties I. can remember, Heenati, Dahanala, Kokkali, Kanni
Murunga, Pachha perumal, Kuru wee and Suvandel.
—---- . We also
grew Mawee, a ’’six to eight” month variety.
Goldsmith: What was this for?
Tenakoon : It was for'the priests. Buddhist priests don
’t
don't
eat after noon so they need very nutritious food to sustain
them1 until the next mtrning.
uj_a.uxuuo, it
Mawee is very nu
nutritious;
has a high protein content and that is why we grew it.
Goldsmith: How about the other varieties?
Tenakoon :: We gtew Heenati for lactating mothers as it makes
them produce more. milk and----also --better
milk
with fat
i '
a high
and sugar content. We tried to grow it during both seasons,
Kanni murunga we grew for the men going out to work in the
paddy fields, It gave them en-^^^* y as it contained a lot
cf carbthydrates. It was also used for making milk rice
for traditional ceremonies, Suvandel, we grew because of
its extraordinary fragrance.
Some of these varieties were specially used when there was
a lot of water in the paddy fieldsothers, when there was
little..water. The former we refer to as ’Goodel’ (or ’God£)
the latter as ’Madawee’ (or ’Alwee’). ' Some varieties were
grown when the fields were particularly muddy; some were
more suitable to grow on high ground where there was less
mud. Some of the varieties required very rich soil; others
would do well in the poorest of soils. Some were more
resistant than others to the paddy bug and we planted them,
rather than other more desirable varieties, when traditional
means' of controlling the bugs failed.
Goldsmith: What Were the traditional methods of controlling
the paddy bug and other pests?
- 3.54-
Tenakoon : Pests were very much 1-ss of a problem than
0^5X3 tT?
F5 °ne thing’ ^'traditional varioles
of paddy had long stems, so they blew in the wind which
made it very difficult for the insert to land nn’+h
h
-nh d b+g droopy leaves which shaded the soil underneath
and prevented weeds from growing through. The paddy part
icularly needs protection from insects during one sho?t
?h^531-Pr^ “ its growth,' about two weeks?
During
this period, the whole family would be on tha aio-nf o ?
'
z
-J
sr.a8”d
essenriai. tor protecting
our crops.
that o’
wootds
?iS
UlodOne
™thin^
toSpJS
”erv'eflecUKvo”t° S’
t0 the p3<1^ Held? ”h?s
-ry.eiiective m keeping away certain insects.
leaves in^the^n?!??^ m if1™’ we Wld bui,y bamboo
reaves m the inlets until the grain be^an tn form. o+
•
stage the grain would be fairly liquid §?o protect U
insects we would obtain the discarded robes of th^Buddhlst
priests, .and make wicks out of them bv soakinv IjL ?
eoeoMt oil. They „ula .hOT to iTtInd Saofd l™;!erent
e? f pfMy fields; beoeuse or the bright vellow
egetable dye that the robes contain - they burn with a
“‘th!
the9!IurUlSne?sPo£ the"?^!^
StSCk them in
of the Kadura tree at the f“r co?nZ?s o/th^field-lh?68
were used as supports for coconut lamps which would’attract
the bugs away from the paddy field. We would be very cSIful to plant the -seeds at the most auspicious time from the
astrological point of view. I am sure that this also helned
to reduce pest infestations.
neipea
Another thing we did was to collect sand from the river beds
and sprinkle it over the paddy fields and irrigation chann
els; this I am sure was also effective. We would also make
long ropes which we impregnated with a very sticky substance
derived from the Jak fruit; the children would drag the
ropes across the field and the bugs in the paddy would get
stuck to them. Alternatively, we would tie a lot of rags
on to a long bit of string and impregnate the rags with a
resin called ’dummala1. Once more these would be dragged
through the paddy fields. The children would also sweep
the paddy field with a special tool (the pinovia) removing
any bugs that might be on the surface of the water.
...
'■
■
•
-**■
"4 O
'
Senari^yake; All this giveff an idea of the co-operation . requippd from all, the members of the family 'far this highly
sophisticated type of agriculture to be- possible. Once
the.family unit breaks down under the impact of development,
^here <is no way in which!-ylf can be practlsed
■one' car: xnly
thpg highly"destru<it;ive ■modern a^o-ricultuhe
practised in5the West. ? ■
, . ...■ J.smay
terns
.. . - ' ■■''’■ 1I ue'
'r
>
lev
Tenakoon 1? That is; right.
v u v ; ■.;,11; j . ,;■ v, e>’-.
■ ' Iri ,■>■■;;:-••■■ V ■?? 1/ V.v .,.!■<-■! v .r- ■■n.'. ?/■ . , ,. !? 1 ■ ■ i V; VPP
‘
‘el./"• T
lo V
.a
‘ Goldsmith : Dorfyou:uae biologic®?‘controls as we r-f-r to
them in the West?
Tenakoon :-.Yes., indeed. One of the most effective ways
of controlling the paddy bKg was to crush coconut refuse
and spread it in each corner of the paddy fi^ld. This would
attract a grey brown bird called the Demaliehoh or seven
sisters. This bird would come to feed on the crushed coconut
todbe arn»ndSTn<3T+ime
C?at ?ny paddy bugs that happened
- .
w°uld also eat the.Godewella worms that
feed on the paddy plant especially during the two v/eek
period.
Goldsmith : Were there any tradittoral rituals for controll
ing pests?
Tenakoon : There was a ritual that involved boiling milk
and allowing it to overflow. It was called ’kiriuturunewaf
which literally means "the milk flows over the pot". It
was considered very effective against the brown hopper an important pest of the paddy plant. Another ritual
consisted of planting a specially decorated stick in the
middle of the paddy field which was considered very effect
ive in repelling insect pests.
Goldsmith : How abou^ rodents
old days?
Were they a problem in the
Tenakoon :^°_c2?'trol_?’a^s w^would bury four pieces of
root taken from the eastern side~of~the’ Mee tree and burn
them in the four corners of the paddy field, The rats as
a result rarely entered the field.
Goldsmith : What about birds?
Tenakoon : These were very much under control for we would
grow rice specially for them in small sections at the end
of each paddy field which were called ’kurulu paluwa1.
Goldsmith ; ~ ‘ how/Ud the birds know that this rice was
theirs rather than the
—ricej grown in the rest of the paddy
fields ?
of years.
of the paddy fields unless of course they were invited to
do so to eat the paddy bug of the godewella worm - and
besidesip if they did so, they would be chased away by the
children.
y
e
Senanayake: There is no magical way of controlling nests.
Our peasants are too wise to believe western scientists who
try to sell them ’miracle' strains of rice and 'miracle'
chemicals that are supposed to eliminate all pests. The
pests of paddy will be around long after western scientists
Sle+^’.10^
industrial society has collapse?
The truth is that we must learn to live frith them and reduce
their depredations by a vast variety of different ways each one of which.by itself may make b"t a small contribution,
nis is only possible of course when the knowledge required
for doing so is handed down from father to son, which it
cannot be when children are sent to urban schools and imbued
with all your full cooperation from all the members of a
family - cooperation which can never be achieved when emp
loyees have to be paid for every-hour of work they do. P
Goldsmith • How did you assure the fertility of the paddy
fields
Tenakoon .L
: A‘ ??in,.we used 3 lot of different methods.
One
was to plant the Mee tree in the paddy fields,
The Mee is
a leguminous tree, which means that the bacteria on its
roots fixes nitrogen, and we used to ggrow about
'
_
eight
of
them to the acre. Its leaves also contain alot of°nitrogen
as.must .the litter that accumulates under it. Also, and^
this you will find particularly interesting, the fruit of
the Mee tree is much appreciated by fruit bats which used
to congregate on the trees in vast numbers when the fruits
were ripe; the batsT droppings (which are particularly rich
m nitrogen) were thus an important sourse of fertilizer.
We also obtained nitrogen by sewing the paddy before the
first rains (Akwassa). As you know, these rains contain
a lot of nitrogen.
5
t
We would also encourage the growth of many leguminous weeds
on the paddy fields between harvests, in particular those
we refer to as Thora, Andana, Hiriya, Nidikumba and Pila.
They would grow wild on1 the 'pillewas' - the small areas
of wilderness that lie above and on either side of the
paddy field. We did not cultivate these areas because it
was from there that the seeds of the leguminous weeds
were derived. It was also there that the buffaloes u-r-d
•
*
- 457for ploughing the paddy, fields would rest, and the dung •
that they produced would be washed off by the rains into the
paddy fields beneath. This too added to their fertility.
It was also behind the bushes that grew on the ’pillewas’
that we would defecate and urinate. This provided yet
another contribution to the fertility of the soil. Today,
of course,; with modern development the ’pillewas’ have
been ploughed up so as to increase the area under paddy the result is^bound to be. a reduction in soil fertility.
. $
Also, as I have already mentioned, traditional varieties '
of paddy had long; steins, so there is very much more straw
to return to the fields than there is today with the short
stem varieties.
Equally important, behind each village there used to be
considerable expanses of jungle. It is from there that
there was derived the water that flowed into the ’tanks’
and which was used for flooding the fields. It was not only
water that the juhgle provided but also the jungle soil that
was highly fertile and that flowed into our fields whenever
they were flooded.
It was by using all these methods that we ’retained the
fertility of our land. They must have worked - or we
would no longer be cultivating this land.
Goldsmith
Have you tried to use artificial fertilizer?
Tenakoon : Yes, I have to, because for the last few years
I have been growing the hybrid rice that requires fertilizer.
Goldsmith :What effect does it have on the rice?
Tenakoon : If. weakens the paddy-plants and the insects
build up so we must use more and more pesticides.
Goldsmith : In general did you produce more paddy then than
you do today?
Tenakoon : I have one acre of paddy. In a very good year
it produces one hundred bushels - which is a lot. My family
needs seventy-five bushels a year so in a good year I have
a surplus.. The trouble is one needs a bigger and bigger
surplus, to live on because we are becoming ever less selfsufficient. Perhaps my father produced less paddy than I
did, bpt he needed less. Also he-could be sure of produc- .
ing enough for his needs each year because he planted so
many.varieties; some alleys grew well, whatever the problems
we encountered in a particular year. Each one of these
/
■'!
f
i
-^58varieties was less vulnerable •to
’ severe conditions than is
than is
the
hybrid
variety
we
.
- .
- -v — use today,
~
.
/ptiis
simply
dies
when
there is
'J a drought and we are getting worse droughts 7*--year,, as everybody knows because
they have cut down the
jungle. :
keep,
try to store it,
of months.
Goldsmith : How long
Tenakoon
diithe traditional varieties keep?
: For at least three years.
ra:
my father cursing my mother for
cookmg new rice in the home when there was still thrL
year old rice in the storage house. I th?nk tJat X
method of storage was also important. The rice was a + n-noH
m large earthenware pots which were nut nn a « +
stof1ed
rat:
got i.t? them.
that the rice remained aerated and cool. Also the not wac
iined with layers of lime leaves and also kala’leaves
which would serve to repel possible insect pests
’
do not
. If
you use artificial fertilizer, the. weight o? you^nroduce
increases but this is largely due to its wateJcontent
you dry the produce you find that the weiht is ve™
the same as it was without use *f fertilizer
Tn r Ch
two studies have shown that storage "problems’in
are largely due to this increased water coXS
n
these studies was done at Sussex University bv the
of development, the other by UNEP7 y he Institute
Tenakoon ; In any case the hybrid wheat has no taste, the
flour we make from it tastes like wheat flour. For all
those reasons and many others, I am giving up hybrid rice
nd intend to cultivate the old varieties
again. The trouble
varieties
is finding the seed, but I am getting
all again.
the ~
trouble
local
farmers
together so that we c?_:
can h^l^
help each other return to the traditional agricultural system.
There is another advantage of the old system; it is that we
used to produce all sorts of foods that we cannot produce
any more.
Goldsmith ; Which ones?
Tenakoon : To begin with we used to go into the jungle to
get many foods such as the Baulu,
Wood
’haTSS’
Wood Apple,
Apple, Wild
Wild Pear
Pear and
and Avocad^
Avocade..
cut down; i
have access to these foods. we must
try to recreate the^jungle.
-
-
We also used to obtain a vast variety of
-p
streams, the tanks and the naddlfi^L f f h from the
flooded. Some of theme f1?3h eSh as01?L”'?“
««
the Kadaya and Ara could live In dried
Kawaiy®>
area at test, they have ntelv a 11
P Pondsthis
them eaten by the Tillaria tha+ no dl®aPPeared, some of
Aftica and foisted upon^s by the mvpt611 byuSht here from
rnent insists that TillapJa Xy a
M
^he Governthis is not true.
Others esrlifl, I
bJe Ine't'ter hut
the paddy fields, haveleen Phoned b^ restte’J 11V6 “
there are no longer amr fioi? 11 f Dy Pesticides.
Since
that transmit Sari^te^ ‘Xivlte'd
assault malaria has heoome a l„t mo^e^rJSs^SS^
The Lula that used to thrive in
tarks
value to ius because it favoured tne formatiol
If21of £re3t
That is why
were other fish that
the Petlya, the Hlrlkanejs/'A?-'.0??X
I hl ?h the Ioral° ’
Ankutta. The Koralo in no^-p-; -i '
-Anda and the
Now we only have the Tillapia^iFiT8 + 2ry SWeet flsh*
not replace all the traditional suite
b2 U does
,’+ 11 °f wblch had
special uses. Also the Tillarfe species
tell
fields, it stays in thl tankl
Thdoes1 not1 g° into the PaddY
The 221?vl2 un(luestianably impoverished our diet and allo
Goldsmith : What other food
did you obtain?
tix:x:
°fthvteta?ie
fr“”
a sort of lotus. We also Ite thl
dS °f the 01u Plant,
In addition, we grew lolls ™ L^hZV^"18 °f the 01umade flour from the Kak-ti ?olts that
Ini ®nd We also
tanks. Nor must we forget the
6 °^ained from the
as bean grams and be™ sprouts?3 Th?sl™e still3111?? SUOh
up to a point but they X iJO-t what tleJ^^tVbe?1^
Nor must we forget the Chena or steah av,a i
as it is referred, to in the West 1 t+
d burn ouJtJ va hicbn
the hills behind the village whteh
aarri®d
in
paddy cultivation. After wl hal
^itable
years we would abandon them anddnniy^o tell bhem for a few
-fell
14 flV-T
later, by which time the jungte had regrX
Each
would cultivate.about half to one acrewhich
-I
ly
was not private
pi opeiby
cultivation there was in c
-----common with other vill
agers. The main crops we "^uld grow there were
m1'l’lp+
were millet,
recent
y------ POP+-1Stior’
growth reduced the cjcle to 4-5 In
lefll
IhicTdf^
g
years which
did "not
allow the jungle to Recover.
In^ly
^odav
Ph f
In any case ate
today
Chena
ivation is discouraged by the government
21
he2a c.
^itonee used for this purpose has government
gone into and much of theviand
periua?>r,nb ^i-tjvaculUvation for which it is not suited.
Goldsmith : It seems that practically all the traditional
foodstuffs also had medicinal uses. Bid you have any eff
ective traditional cures for malaria?
Tenakoon : A very effective one. We use Banja or Ganja marijuana as it is usually known. This was one of our most
important medicines; it used to be called "the leaf that
can win the entire world", so great were its medicinal uses
We used to reduce it to powder and boil it like tea and
add jaggery (sugar from Kittul palm) to it. It was not
only effective against malaria but also against worms. W
often took it with other foods for it reduced the time it”
took for them to be absorbed by the bloodL
blood. Honey had the
same effect.
X'X_
-L.
♦ I n
_L
«
■-
I
¥
O
_
Gunasekara : Robert Knor +he Englishman who was shipwrecked
in Sri Banks in the 16th century arand spent seventeen years
here as a prisoner of the king, referred to Banja
as -the
v
-j
cure for malaria in his fA
’Account‘ of Ceylon’. ^he plant was
called ’’the ruler of the three worlds”.
Gold smith : Bo you still use Banja for medicinal purposes?
Tenakoon
: No, today it is banned by the government.
:■
■
Goldsmith
It is said that you .can increase yfelds by transplanting the paddy plants when they have just sprouted;
have, ydh tried to ..do this ?
■
' r;
f..,
Tenakoon : The government tries to force us to. They
learnt this technique from the Japanese. In many areas of
Japan Where they grow paddy, there is an annual frost whifh
often lasts as long’as three weeks. The plants get damaged
ir] Ihe paddy fields. They get round this’ by broad-casting the seed inside green-houses where they are protected
from the frost. They are then transplanted into the'paddy
fields* But here we find that the plant after beinpst^iispxanteo is sick, it takes
much
ijvro w^eks for it to
>eebvert They only way to get round this is to use artif
icial fertilizers to give them a fillip, and pesticides to
Protect them in their weakened state against pests. Also
thWrtrangpla’ntation takes up a lot of time and this intei?feres with other activities such as Chena cultivation and tank fishing. The government is also very keen thatwe
Should have three harvests instead of. two, which theyrclaim
is possible with modern agricultural methods, but this takes
up a lot of time and interferes with most-of the other acti
vities - including our social life - besides which it wj’H
provide;a permanent niche .for the brown hopper.
7
-
:
Goldsmith : Have you tried to use a tractor?
■T ' d t
.A
T'S n;
j I
, -•
, ■ \1 . _
t, c nit* . •
xj
r> P
■
I
Tenakoon : I haven't, but many farmers have done so. It
M°Od
the buffalo. A pair of buffalos weigh
about 2,000 pounds. Their feet are just the right shape
d0W? the 3011 in the Paddy field, which as <a
result forms a gley or cru,- whifh holds the water in.
They also stir up the soil ab»ve the gley and leosen it.
buf£al» als. produces about 1,500 pounds of dung everv
year and a vast amount of urine, both of which contributp^
very significantly to the fertility of the soil? The *
fipld°r
otl??r hand is much to° heavy for the paddy
field. Wherever it passes, it breaks through the gley,
and water penetrates into the sub-soil. So if one uses a
tractor one requires very much more water and this, espec
ially today, is unlikely to be available. Also it stirs
up the soil
The light- organic matter comes to the surface
fl00d wa^r. So its use leads to red!
uced fertility
Needless to say of course the tractor
neither defecatesnor urinates, hence makes no contribution
does lt Produce milk and hence
ghee (clarified butter) nor curd, both of which play a
very important part in our diet. Nor, for that matter,
does it reproduce itself when it dies; one simply has to
by another tractor.
F J
Of course it saves labour and that is what we are always
Profession is agriculture which means that I
flelds5 that is my life. I don't want to
8 •
day’ rior to sPend my time gossiping with my
neighbours. In.any case what is the point of saving labour
in a. country which has such high unemployment. In the old
days labour saving devices made still less sense, the
family and the community were intact and there were
were always
always
PeoPle for the ploughing, the sowing, the harvest
and the maintenance of the tanks.
Anuradhapura and Pollonaruwa would never have existed
would never have been able to sustain a population which We
was possibly as much as fifteen million people, eq,ual to
the present population.
Goldsmith :: *Isn’’t the government trying to restore
the old
irrigation system?
Senanayake: They have restored a number of tanks with the
World Bank aid, but only the big tanks
uoujxd, and that is not
enough. The big tanks
'
are only of use if the small village
tanks are also 2
in ."""
use,a and these -rrc
have 1—gely silted up.
\rhe^ob of the Department of Irrigation to maintain
them but they cannot be"maintained by
’ ,a bureaucracy. Once
-
-
the social structure of the village has collapsed they must
inevitably silt up and remain that vzay. in fact if we
wish to restore our traditional agriculture we. must first
restore the social life and the culture that gave rise to
it and without which it cannot be conducted.
Tenakoon : I fully agree. It is not the tanks that must
be restored but the whole system of tank cultivation - and
this cannot be done by bureaucrats. We used to have five
different type o ftanks. First of all there was the forest
.tank which was dug in the jungle above the village; Ut was
not forirrigation but to provide drinking water'for the
wild animals that live in the jungle. They knew it was for
them, they had thousands of years to learn this, so they
do not come to the village in search of water and interfere
with our agricultural activities.
The second sort of tank was the mountain tank. There were
no canals running from it ; its purpose was to provide water
for Chena cultivation.
The third sort of tank was the erosion control tank known
as the 'Pota Wetiye'. We used_to
used to have several of those
t!
and
the silt would accumulate in__ them
before
-- ---j it- could build up
in the storage tank, They were so designed as to be easily
desilted.
"I
The fourth was thestorage tank. Y'
There were -usually two
of them. They were known as the twin-tanks^.
1- ---1— They were
'Irsed'. in--turn. COne was in use while the other was being,
maintained. These- were
rzrs ♦connect-e-d
Lj a-t-olarge number-of
village tanks which they fed and which fed°them too with
-their.. ove rfl ow.
■their
.
Seaarayake:-.These tanks- played...an. -essential part in the-- ’
traditional rural life. One. could not imagine a- village
in the dry sone without a ta-nk’any mere than one- could
.....imagine, it .without a temple or rice paddy,. In ’ fact 'the- ' ■ "
three basic- constituents of the village were the temple
(enmbura) and the tank(wewa).
(dagoba), the rice paddy (eumbura)
Of course there were other important.constituonts as' TenaL-rHa jrvjr-u.
Tlio
j
p
y
B
g-iJcU Oxu,!
where the Chen© cultivation took place.
Tenokoon
: Absolutely.
w
Goldsmith : What did the old traditional village look 'J ike?
Tenakoon : The houses were built very close together. In
In
this way they occupied the minimum amount of precious land.
This arrangement favoured the essential cooperation among
—A ^3**
the villagers, For instance, one woman could look after
the children of a number of neighbours at the same time
which is important when
- —j the
maximum number of people are
required in the fields to
harvest
-—rvcct the crops or maintain the
tanks.
Goldsmith : How was the maintenance of the tanks
organised ?
Tenakoon :: It was part of the Rajakari service that was
owed
. . to. the King.
.r’.
had to provide this service
° y
i"0 a year. It was not for the purpose of
serving his personal whims or caprices. It was work that
had to be done in the interests of the whole community.
Junesekara: Indeed one of our Kings tried to get the people
to desilt the artificial lake in front of his palace in
Kandy as part of their Rajakari work, they refused to do so
saying that this was not community work. It was his per
sonal responsibility and he had to arrange for it separately.
Senanayake: Of course the British misunderstood the whole
principle
P^iftciple ..;.pf
pf Rajakari
Rajakari, they thought it was abusive, a relic
Of Kandyfs feudal past and -they abolished it. This was one
ot* the most destructive things the British ever did. It
destroyed the very principle of cooperation in this’country.
Fortunately it did not destroy it completely; it
it lingered
lingered
on in a somewhat rudimentary form. The villagers still
worked fourteen days each year for the common good, a pract
ice that was finally stopped in 1970 by the Irrigation
Department. Bureaucrats will not tolerate any cooperative
villagers. It reduces the demand for its services,
if the Rajakari system were still functioning there would
be no need for the bureaucrats of the irrigation department.
Of course, now that it is their responsibility to maintain
the tanks they do nothing about it.
Tenakoon : "What was everybody’s business had become no
body s business". (A comment made by British official at a
Select Committee set up by the British Parliament in 1849
to consider these matters - Ed).
Goldsmith : I take it from all you have told me that you
reject outright the whole package of western technological
agriculture?
Tenakoon
: I do.
Goldsmith : You would prefer to be traditional farmer of
the old school?
Tenakoon :. I would, but everything is done to make this as
difficult as possible. In the eyes of officialdom I am a
pauper beca-ce I am a ’’subsistence agriculturalist". I am
Ko6'
Main- health CELL
Block
BangalOri
e'5^0034
India
uneducated because I have not been subjected to western
education. All ray knowledge, in particular the traditions
and culture of my people, counts for nought. I am even
considered unemployed because I am not pfrt of the formal
economy. I ma
little contribution to the workings of the
market. I have been told, that I am a beggar
®
Senanayake : All this will change soon, you will ’be the
v™
fl£Ck here t0 1“ri’
todUlons
be sustainJh th 1
Jecause current trends cannot
hL ho
d’ Ehe Problem has got out of hand. The jungle
has been everywhere cut down to make way for plantations®
As a result there has been vastly increased erosion and the
anks have silted up at an unprecedented.rate. There is no
longer anybody to maintain the anti-erosion tanks, the twin
tanks qr two village tanks. In some villages the tanks are
completely silted up and where they are half silted up in
the meantime everybody is moving to the‘towns and theGities
Colombo now has vast slums which did not exist a decade ago
If current trends continue Colombo will soon look like
Calcutta. People are coming to depend more and more on the
formal economy for their food and its price is going up bv
leap^and bounds
The government is not interefted in feedt^g*hhe p®opls;
were, it would not use half our land
it ho h^eG?C,ne4-JC probuce cash crops for export. Norwould
iwG136 b?llding the vast complex of dams that make up the
;S”“of
jeStOre
-® Past. This
course’ it cannot do without
pr!s!rt Priorities - development in partic
ular. The attempt to transform this country
into
into a tronical
version of a western industrial nationcountry
is suicidal
^epical
S7!?!!0 ®ven SM8ter
greater malnutrition ale
and Soea
And al! this in Sri
Lanka
which
should-be, as it hasTZ;
-a
which
should'be,
m the past a "ions
..
’
nas oeen
"land of milk and honey".
!
■
Source: ”The Havoc that the TWest
’ ' '
has played with Eastern
”
By Edward Goldsmith in ’’MANTHAN” July 1985 pages Agriculture
79 -93
PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF ADDRESS FI
FROM s 1st January
ISI DOCUMENTATION CENTRE,
10, Lodi Road,
NEW DELHI 110003>
1 ;• hi
gircu1ATION ONLY
INDIAN ECONOMY: SOME TRENDS §
As the Jmodels; of•yesteryears - Brazil, Mexico-and Argentina - struggle t* keep their head above water in a sea of
foreign debts, the eyes of the corporate chiefs and inter
national bankers have timed to Asia. East Asia was’conj quered' decades ago and the so-called economic miraele
rested on the strength of repressive regimes supported by
Western military alliances. The opening up of the Qinese
economy is still to -bring in the goodies bankers had ex
pected, for the Chines’e drive a hard bargain. So this time
it is India -the new darling of the international agencies.
Increasingly it is being put forward as the new ’model' to
the Third Wwrld; and changes in its economic policies as
vindication of the programmes and policies propdu^ded by
the World Bank and the IMF. Yet to many familiar with the
poverty and squalor of its masses, the denial of civic and
human rights, to millions and the slow pace of social and
economic change this may be -perplexing.
Hrw has the*. Indian economy .fared during the .last decade or
two; what is-, the direction in which it is proceeding and *
who gains, by this growth?. These are not easy questions
to-answer for a continental economy like India. Yet it
does not require -any elaborate research to di corer the
•narrow and precarious base of Indian capitalism, or to
discover the hundreds of millions whom growth has totally Hbypassed.
midsixties it was a typical Tbasket1 case. A broder skir
mish with Pakistan, two years of drought and a decline in
foreign exchange reserves due to total stoppage of foreign
aid had brought the economy to its knees. For the first
time in independent India industrial output declined because
of sharp cutback in public investment. There were fodd
riots in the cities and a wave of strikes in the factories '
as workers fought to prevent a decline intheir real incomes;
And media were full of starvation dgaths in the countryside.
Seen a spate of peasant movements broke out in different
parts of the country. The ruling classes faced their.most
serious challenge since 1947. To many, the time to snap
the weakest link in international capitalism had arrived.
scenario seems to be vastly
Today,
a distance, the
’
different. From a large importer of foodgrains,, India has
emerged as a ]net exporter and Sts warehouses are overflowing
with foodgrains,, Its industry has diversified and its
shops are full of consumer durables. Its exports have
\
/
’ ■‘5
a
,h;.
—146—
diyer^ified - from a supplier of primary products arid agro
based manufacturer India t^day exports a wide variety of
goods1' including-automobiles and machine tools. It has
Overcome the 'oil shock' through increased exploration and
extraction of petroleum. . Its balance of payments position
is 'manageable' and international -bankers- flock to Delhi
to offer the best'terms. Its rate of savings has doubled
from J Z. to 24- percent. In a small way, India has emerge*
as an exporter' of technology, and foreign investment by
the Iridian corporate sector exceeds Rs. 100 crore. And
when the world capitalist economy suffered a recession,
the Indian economy'continued to expand. The hegemony of
the ruling-classes has been re-established, and despite,
■large parts of the country engulfed in ethnic violence/ri.'-e
there, seems >0 be no formidable challenge.
.**
♦
■■*
The food crisis of the ri>id-sixties was ultimately resolved
^XVe^^^X
hands of a rich peasantry that had established aits social
ind.a?? aiolltionf6”10"7
countryside ^ftor the zaJn•
I
I
■
t2eLnirer?e+SFUnd 100 “illion tonnes in the early 70s
period d
?odled neW heiShts in the 1975-85 ? ’
P62?ioci. Jt touched 121 m. tonnes in 1
r>-nri
scaled the 150,m. tonnes mark (ifbie 5
Des??t
J®"
second burst m the. agrlcnltorh oitput, tte^ag1^,,gram output has expanded at a meagre. 2,4 percent ner
annum, durmg this decade^ Which puts thrincrease iu-t a
notch, below the grpwth. in population. SignSiZantlF^e
per capita .Availability Of foodgrain has failed i£om 470
gm per day’m 1961 to ,438 gR in 4984, when India harvested
the biggest .crop in. its- history.
narvesiied
I
c
REG-TONAL IWUALITIES *
This overall rate of-sgricultural growth camauflages
sharpening regional inequalities. it is just the three
states of. the north (Punjab, Haryana-and U.P.-) that exhibit
rapid growth rat$s ranging between 6 and 10 percent per
annum.. The only significant Change in the scenario has
"been the^spread ef new technology, with dramatic improve
ments in yield and ' putput ,=to east TT.P. , hitherto a back
ward ard deficit region.
-147-
The rest of the country experienced a fall in agricultural
growth rates helew 1.5 percent p.a. In several States like
Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal and Kerala, th
the
foodgrain output hardly changed during the last decade.. T
This mea^s that the per capita production in most States
has shown a dramatic fall. In the 197/5-83
197,3-“83 period, to givfe
a few examples, it declined f
.
— - -kg in Kerala
from'170 kg to
110
and from 26J to 187 kg in Rajasthan.
■
’
<
It is noteworthy that though the Green Revolution has found
firm roots in the three northern States, its success else
where has been doubtful. Several States like Tamil Nadu
and Andhra Pradesh, nurtured pockets (Thanjore and Godavari
delta respectively) with a breakthrough in technology and
yields and raised hopes that the Green Revolution would sonn
be an All-India phenomenon, have failed to duplicate or
enlarge these pockets.
The very limited and localised nature of Indian agrarian
capitalism provided the State with an opportunity. Regional
concentration meant that the marketed surplus was high (60
percent in Punjab) and with government intervention in xfoodgrains
fuirklvtrade
t^,4t+^a^p0!Sible.t0.in2p
this ^Plus and”
quickly move it to the towns m deficit States
States to
to feed
feed the
the
network. As Table 1 shows, about 81 per cent of
the total State procurement comes from Punjab, Haryana and
0^+
9ther
in the country is deficient end on
a net basis imports food from these regions.
This strategy has serious consequences for the rural poor.
Since the rationing network hardly touches the rural areas,
bulk of the so-called public distribution goes to feed the’
statutory and modified rationing network in the towns.
About 25 percent of the public distribution is to the flour
mills to produce wheat products for the urban population.
A rural poor, even if he happens to be near a ration- shop,
is unlikely to have the income to buy the foodgrain. Hence
with a sharp fall in per capita production and inadequate
supply from the rationing network hunger has only become
roone widespread. And even when S-^ate warehouses are bursting
with grain (a record 26 million tonnes this summer) only a
pittance of 3 lakh tonnes is given for food-for-work nrogrammes directly to the rural poor.
These large food 'surpluses' in the hands of the State pro
vide the ruling classes with manoeuvr^hility to stave off
any severe economic crisis. The rationing network is able
to appease the more vocal middle class in the towns and
raise th$ rates of accumulation for industrial capital by
keeping the wages in check. Large-scale deaths from hunder
can be prevented by rushing food into pockets with shar$
decline in crurtrrurt* and provide some 'relief work’ to generate
I
IP'lll,
J. 11
-143-
temporary incomes. About 1.5 million tons is being expor
ted to.earn foreign exchange and as the food r-ots in the
fields and warehouses, ambitious plans are being drawn up
+£ IaiSe 'this ’to 5-10 million tons. There is little doubt
f,™'3 Btocks SI>d sports Se based m
fact that the bulk of Indians, lack the purchasing power to
buy this food or the ppolitical and organisational strength
to sieze them. More than half the country's population
goes to bed on half-empty stomachs.
TA
TABLE I
PRODUCTION AND PUBLIC PROCUREMENT OP FOODGRAIN'S
Punjab, Haryana and U.P.
----- INDIA
Year
Production Procurement
(in mill.tonnes)
Production Procurement
(percentage of total)
1971-71
1974- 75
1975- 76
103,4
99.8
121 .•
6.7
5.6
9.6
29.2
27.8
27.5
65.7
56.3
62.0
1979-80
1982- 83
1983- 84
109.7
128.4
151.4
13.8
15.3
15.6
30.4
36.8
53.6
82.9
81.6
80.6
Source : India, Bulletin on Food Statistics
various issues
INEGALITARIAN
the count?y hasSecome
-rub
sixth in
~
poverty
There is indirect
evidence that the overall income distribution has become
worse.
Cne
e
?ne such evidence is the sharp rise in the
savings rate in the economy during the 1970s. It is well
known that the poor in India
~
are ’dissavers’, i>e., they
consume more than they earn. Hence the additional incomes
’ Il " »■«' 1 '■ wAw H HI.
-149nave gone into the hands of the rich with a high orenensitv
io s8ve. Increasing regional inequalities have strengthened
this trend. The other major factor has been the ver^rJ^a
expansion .f the tertiary sector especially public services
defence, banking, etc. with high wage employment in the
’
urban areas net directly linked to. prudubtl?n
+hoSa+erS2nins inc,ine distributien has made its impact on
°f indus^y
the nature of industrial isa-
tion. With large and growing incemes in the hands of a small
producing mass consump^^n^’v^ hand, the industries
sta’gna^ld^rTcV^d133^0’’ ^^P^’^’nsi!?Srha^0^6^
• oWeX
t^Jn^the prolangJatJtaMationVlntthnt-1’aS J0,eTer tailed
SM? xf; Si * r“e
produced frim the im^rted
s^u
2^nvnV2ndS which are ^ing
domestic game nJaeT^aXj’iX^;
eirerts t. enl
-r the rich in a country where the ‘tS
the
CUt direct taxes
population appropriates 40-45 perle^t J trr+e^-.,f the
Indirect taxes on goods like mv
f ^he 1:01:31 income,
have been drastically reduced VTmnn^+’ ?efrigerators etc
and about Rs. 1000 crorls Sf rif ™ +haZe been Hheralls-ld
have been used up to im-nn-r-t^P01*^8
Bombay High
the urban MbaieViaa^a Java e^n^rL??0^:
to smn acquire the e-ond^
-n^13 the millennium and hope
I-relgn na^Xj
I?sL?'Te ''Dly seeD ^’ertlsed In
rich peasantry sf the Jd-4 fittSsa 1”¥t£’'laencs the‘ the «
srs
Punjab and Haryana with enlv 4 -n 6 urbari _rich in the market.
p»pulati^n have emerged as th^ rinvle^i^ th+ c*untry's
ornsumer duvahloo o7v + 8
single largest market fer
Tolkai
b\v llke tw°-wheelers and watches. The 'Z™,
Jea?Zd!
"ee” th" ’■^peasantry ana the urbaj ricj Is Y'
-
”5
'■»
■i.i n vi f-'iVl'l 1 '■'
'< 1 '"l'1''’ ''
1 '*
community r~
hbalth CELL
326> V Main, lB)ock
^oramangala
fianga/ore-560034 °
-150India
THE NEW‘RULERS r:
9
0
It is these classes who underpin the social base if the new
regime. The corporate managers and scions of the former
princely rulers who run the new regime have.no doubts or
qualms about the directionoin which the economy is moving.
Their model is the South Korean and Brazilian path of growth,
The regime is busy liberalisingf the economy. Controls on
monopoly houses and transnational firms have been relaxed
and corporate taxes cut. India has-become the new hunting
ground for international finance capital and new sectarse
like power, telecommunications are being privatised. A laro’e
number of transnational corporations are flocking t«* sign
collaborations withothe ’desi’ capitalists. Several of these
ventures are being financed by commercial borrowings fr®i«
transnational banks. The IMF and the World Bank are over
whelmed at the response their promptings have brought about
and bureaucrats in Delhi boast about the certificates showered by these agenciese
On the other hand, the collapse of the Janata Government
saw a scuttling of the food-fnr-work programme which prov
ided some landless with food during the lean months. Funds
for anti-poverty programmes have been drastically reduced.
The Finance Minister has publicly stated that such nroe-rammes are a waste of resources anS 'meant to salve ou?
earned6^6-'
f ?is cold-blooded ruthlessness that has
earned Rajiv the title of rreagan of Asia7.
e •
Whether India will be at all able to transform the economy
even as the South Koreans have done is doubtful. South
Korea has managed to shift a substantial portion ®f its
workforce from agriculture to the manufacturing sector.
India !s industry can hardly/provide jobs to 500,000 new
entrants every year and unemployment is rising by leaps and
bounds. Already 24 million are registered with employment
exchanges and this is thought to be a small fraction of the
total unemployed s±nce the exchanges do not cover the rural
areas. Poverty and hunger is generating new pressures and
movements in States like Bihar, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh
and T^mil Nadu. Being localised in nature, they are bpine:
^S^Cma^iCally
ruthlessly crushed by the armed forces
of the State,* The expenditure on army and police has doubted
to Rs. 8000 crores in the last 5 yaars and more sophisti
cated methods are being employed to contain the backlash of
the landless in the countryside.
Yet 3 serious threat to the ruling classes is not on the
hoiizon.+fig new forces unleashed
Ll±o
vet to
work themselves out and tho
conhraIi*•. hi ons are stil l in
in
their emtryonic stoSo. But there is Jlt.tle doubt that the v
hi;ackjng ui’ the economy by a small coterie ■ will not go
unchallenged.
SOURJE: ’’Indian Economy : Some Trends” By Sushil, Khanna,
Oct 19 - Nov 2, 1985, FRONTIER, pages "9 22.
community health
CELL
326, V Main, I Block
^oramungala
fiangalore-560034
India
JRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLY
±^+1111-^1'11111111^
± THE DIVIDED LEFT t
Vh I ■!++++++-(-++++f /■/■/ /T
^139The contemporary divisions within the internatinnai
^hv°nemeIlt orlSlM*e around the time of the\wentleth”'1”'
thl^snSt”™^
°PSV ? 1956' Ths consequences of
and the Peipus Sep^llc’of’ch"?the USSR
tons.
The ^eatost^en^hcLrlJs'ha've^e^lspItalS' ”
imperialism and neo-colonialism
The Tn+
j.?
sb
ist movement as a whole°suffered a^ZrJ
32™time when its strength should havl
le s?+'back ab a
political and economic costs for th^ + c°mPelling. The
countries have been groat but
? 1?adlnS communist
of the Third World the Impact h^ hVel°Ping entries
catastrophic.
mpact has been nothing short of
-J**’*
t?
terms the Tatter
the dispute has
Wn-rfHPted °r.subverted urgent social
change
in the Third
rid countries. The distrap+inn
unret dispute haa inhe^^d^^SeS
posed by the intra-commthe ran Despite the disadvantages i_ „_1UPursuit .f minimal
th them both the USSR and
end _all other d^tX
have
dte».^r?e?Sfi„1She'?
ba81C taslra
carte blanche fc™'’*8’ ’eHlevacebt;
oni?t°ti,-h1e-diSCVSsi0n about the nature and e,
P11m Shirking, often dominated by thoroughlycauses of the
„
idealiot,
non-Marxist sl.ganeering. r*
~ ™oroughly
Jfenycf the arguments put forward by pr.taganists are unconvincing,
.................will Perhaps others
better qualified than this writer
respond and re-state
an analysis of the problem.
of^hem^s^lonv^+A Problems seem to be unresolved.
One
a
1 g swarding one but remains relevant todav
Why do communist parties become t*pvi • i nm* o+-o u
like to concentrate on ?h« issue ol foret™?„n?-re 0B® should
ioi‘Jar-WT^g in thinkinS that most peoplf belitv^reJis-13
lonism is the outcome of betrayal by the leadeShin the
lut^ris^nt856:-9^ party rae™bersybeing viewd avictims.
foL.
not entirely clear why such betrayals occur
T-p
ideolo2varthe0anllt by money ?r succumb to nationalist’
J-aeoiogy, the answer does not get us verv far
tim^n^th^ S^^unists have appeared regularly from the
vime of the First World War and indeed before, the reasons
£++
susceptibility to revisionism needs definitive
an+nmsHnai iMy 0Afn belief is that internationalism cannot
automaticaily endure as the dominant perspective and policy
m a world of nation States, except as the temporary Result
X:-
’ '.wv ,rM
■
'
-140.- j
Of unusual leadership. Bufit is foolish to lament thp
absence of leed^s of the calibre of Benin. because we are
then condemned to disappointment. Such an’’attitude though
understandable, prevents clear thinking, about the problem
of revisionism and, worse still serious efforts to Sat
the phenomenon, and limit damage if revisionism canS t
realistically banished .altogether
Buith°™X
leadership to lead us to the Sew
J§rusalew highlights a distinctly religious attitude rafho-r
than sound- materialist thinking/ It if highlv^-obAbl^
judging, from- past experience, that revisionisms"and" b^t ’
— t".
implications for concrete problems of radical chanvp ans
i
T SOCIAL IMPERIALISM f
is, ostensibly
'
--- .j in its applica—
ontemporary situations. r*'
v ---j conexcept as
descriptive
term or
evocative
of oS-iK
abuse without ;
The
oto„o„ form
usoge’
rS’
the cemmon usage of the concept derides
as socialism
+^1S? in
ln words and imperialism in deeds. But vet
XntrSfbehave”^ thif
us5 3ts very far. W d° soc^list
manner as unl%T^edly do?
Once mere w^ are p?ovided^it^the
tion blaming revisionist iZfdersi
S^T^texllsK-
terms the most celebrated case of r^iopift hf&fr
occuned in the USSR soon after the death of Stalin. The
good Russian people purchased the freedom of the world in
blood to be promptly betrayed by their leaders. How such
leaders suddenly seize power and transform an entire societv
with such rapidity defies the imagination, unless of course
the rot started long before, as some argue. But the conVe2J15nn1
criti<hie of the CPSU does not pursue this
methodologically sound procedure although this writer
personally does not find the explanation of long term
decline adequate despite the soundness of the procedure
in historical terms (e.g. Moshe Lewin).
Lenin Ts deployment of the texin social imperialism it
needs to be reiterated, was rather different in meaning
from its current usage. The current usage is, one wo-/d
suggest, only meaningful on a descriptive and therefore
banal level.. Lenin castigated socialist parties in capit
alist societies. Here the analytical issue is much more
direct. Socialist parties in capitalist-imperialist
-141-
"ti;
- \:-v'
societies could, quite plausibly, be susceptible to the
dominant ideology and that is what happened. The precise
mechanisms through whidh this happens are, in principle,
dedupible. But in planned economies, whatever the partic
ular* fa ilings , no such generalised ideology can exist,
because the economic dynamics of society are different.
Now this isnnot to suggest that, such societies could not
therefore be imperialist. Plainly that would be absurd.
But Lenin's distinctive use of ther term cannot be trans
ferred mechanically to revisionist parties which do not
operate within^a capitalist-imperialist environment and
cannot bd swimming'in th? corrupt sea. If they are supp
orters of imperialism the reasons are different. Of course^
some people regard the USSR as capitalist, but such a char
acterisation has enormous difficulties, except applied in
some limited way to the sphere of ideology.
SINO-SOVIET RIFT
+Lt^Lr^Sk^°f C0I?raitting heresy there is need to challenge
oSfi?US ^agreements between the two parties over the
sharing of nuclear technology. The CPC- nerha-nc? nwr ■hoa+n
hrtet-fif16? t0 rea^/uriderstand the real dangers of
of outright
outright-7
at
3 nu°learized world in which the USSR did not,
at that stage, enjoy nuclear parity. It
"r-u is possible
~ to disagree with the perception of the CPSU
■‘■’lat some form of
accomodation with the capitalist powers was unavoidable but
the case cannot be dismissed without examination. More to
the point is the adamant refusal of the USSR to share n
nuchar secrets with the PRC. Here the arguments put forward
by the CPSU are not without foundation. The USSR feared
the immediate introduction of nuclear weapons in the Federal
Republic of Germany by the USA. In the context of the
vast amount of Soviet assistance to the PR»'s industrializ
ation programme in the immediate past the accusation of
total cynicism and hostility cannot be regarded as having
already become an established fact. The subsequent bellig
erence of the USSR towards the PRC, ranging from the with
drawal of economic assistance to the border conflict is a
genuine source of grievance for which the lack of sensit
ivity on the part of the CPSU, on a matter of over-riding
importance to the oppressed nations and peoples of the
world, can only be imputed to the arrogance of its privil
eged position within the socialist world as the most domin
ant industrial and political power.
4
4;
so:rrxiitod„fraa?jscaii3fcliar:di:xLoanla”tjiie Ss=s
-142-
^"e'
the CPSU towards the Third Worlrt
Policies of
serving, apparently^indSaSJ^^S^p
Selfinal reasons for the split. However ? Vlq* of the origthe growing conservatism of Soviet no7f™OU1 d s^gest that
to an unbroken line nrior tn
o P°\lcy cannot be tracei
fact the conservatism wl rart?l
Split in
Soviet split. The isolation
resPonse to the Sinoest potential ally promoted ..ff,the uss£ from its ■ strong
affirmative policies towarHc.1?°Ve further away from
friendships with thoroughly hour^n • I'evolution and seek
Nehru's India on a more^bJe^KL gATfnme’ts likq
be conceded that if the Sino-qnvi!+
3* 11east lt miSh^
we cannot know exactly how the USSR wou1d\ d nOt occyred
the bourgeois Third World gov«rnmentZ whinJaV+ f®Sarded
to support. This outcome cannot ho w h
Xt then beSan
any casual way but the nrohaMnW Earned on the CPC in
events end PokLsXgd^o^^X1?3 b<it,'een
beoetIse',eSVietnaMsea^lbt™ytaIdroU1'qt10? 1,1 T1e't:narn It Is
threat to their
• v? d not create a serious
attempted, unsuccessfully^t^link |lthoYSh the U.S.
Europe with Soviet
?? ? security issues in
an attempt which eendPSe1sC\e!i!11Se^flncT^dirge?ie1?namto catalogue the loneday’
is pointless
except to add that tL^nL-Lv?1^Soviet compromises
to a more security-conscious and® 'national®*he Prelude’
policy despite the achievement of’?®tl0nallst' foreign
security policy, especially al f th? ma;]Or S°als of Soviet
it should be noted that fho 3S a nuclear power. However
policy is its
of Soviet
oppressive regimes if they also hasH163 3n)onS corrupt,
the West. Of course this „
, a S™e BrlevSI!ce afekst
ure both in the medium an^loigke™ Snr815 a cost:Ly fsl1'stock market' transactions inS+l
since many of these
to grief, e.g. Egypt lid
® ^ealni °f Politics came
of the Soviet Union with Thir^Worldh® ec™?mlc relations
to have a familiar look: speculation ? n'tries also began
SyMdTU°8^o5Sa ----"tohi
■
further alleged or actuali™J • i1!1 Principles to
political interests. The most astoni ?'Fadi+'i°nal security
huma^aM^atSlel SluSllea8™38 I? l»lllotI>masslVeS“Ch
ered tothreeten18^;!^^!?”.”8^™8^--^^.
-143-
4
World War IT period, but one wonders how far security int
erests might be pursued in the absence of count^vailiS
imperialist power. Such doubts ought not to exist foi the
Bolshevik Party of Lenin but legitimate doubts may nofr
exist about Soviet intentions.
y
On the question of revoluti0nary internationalsim many
Marxist theoreticians have elevated the thoroughly imper
ialist notion of non-intervention to a timeless and absolute
principle. Historically, non-intervention applied to the
• ^eir colonialism and exploitation. Non-interention is a tactical question not a strategic goal *
defend 1other revol±^nlban?°n
to i^efvenito
„
4..
3r revojirions. Experience has taught circumspectiqn over the virtues of intervention since it is onen
+Ut do£rnatic rejection of the possibility of prinup ^We^eiTtn -Oh
3 "Orkers' state should not be given
W need to judge each case on its merits although nt
this juncture of history caution remains the best counsel.
In conclusion, IL
it 1is necessary to address another issue
which one editorial
SLsixr
internationalism
abroad, +^his'qljIes’fclc’n is fundamental
serious
Marxint^attemnts
to
theoretical and
r —
■■
The problem of revisionism at home is now equally applicable
to the PRC and on a vaster scale than
anything that has
ThSe11^ in the ySSR SlnCe the TwertietVParty
Party digress
Congress.
ro?,! + no point
point m
in arguing
arguing with
with flat
flat earth theorists who
^fuse to accept this fact'• or
or those
those who
who now view the entire
world s complex multi-layered problems from the wantage
point of Albania. As the Americans say: they got religion
111 13 ?vr£e^ly cle9r from reading China's English lanf^age '
press that the pace of change in the PRC is quite stagfering
The word revisionism is being used as it has been hitherto®8
applied against the USSR, but this usage should not neclssrily be regarded as meaningful in historical materialist
^erms or implying damnation. My personal view of the events^'
i post Mao China is that the solid achievements of the
Revolution are highly unlikely to be lost, but there is
cause for anxiety because the newly chosen path towards
industrial transformation is imposing class tensions which
cou.u lead to the restoration of virulent forms of class
dominance. Senior figures like Shu Shaozhi, Director of
ic Junese Institute of Marxism, constantly inveigh agaiTifl+
t0° much egalitarianism. gRt3fai3n8i;
hard <o eliminate" (London Observer, Sunday, 1 September,
"
■
.
“
“
r
I.
t
19®5, p.8). Imagine what would have been made of it if a
senior Soviet official were to utter such homilies.
There are now good reasons for arguing that poor developing
conuntries can, at best, hope to achieve industrial trans
formation without imposing grinding poverty on the majority
or subordinating themselves to international capital but
without an advanced capital base, the realities of economic
backwardness constantly hinder the aspirations generated £y
by the Cultural Revolution. But the Chinese way is still
to be bettered. Stalinist industrialization occurred in
conditions which imposed intolerable costs and cannot be
regarded as a model, at least in its savage pace, since
similar imperialist pressures are row absent.
Can such ’revisionist’ socialist countries, Albania excepted <of course (for the moment at least), have a progressive
foreign policy?
U.S. naval engineers are now assisting in
China
f
s
docks,
■
--- the Soviet Union is unlikely to jeopardise
its relations with imperialist powers but it will back
pro-boviet regimes without over-much regard for what these
regimes are doing at home. Power politics in international
relations is the name of the game. But there is a differ
ence; fcapitaHst-imperialist powers have a structural
economic need for the vast Third World reservoir, the
planned economies do not and the Third World has the oppor
tunity to manoeuvre to reach their own goals. The social
ist countries seek international allies, they are not con
cerned to force the retention of backward market arrange
ments because they have no relevance to their economic or
political purposes. There is in fact no dialectical wonder.
Internationalist foreign policies appear not to survive
the visions of great leaders but revisionists at home are
not imperialists in the same sense as capitalist countries.
Great power leads to arrogance hut there is no objective
necessity to preserve backward, market status quos.
The split in the socialist movement Is not hox-x-Jkiy snrnrtJsing. There are too many precedents, going back to the1 103
First International. The two leading 'socialist tummuxjBtJ
powers have already achieved those fundamental goals whjcn ■
at present seem remote for the impoverished Third World.
Third World countries should not subordinate their owr.
viral needs by allowing unavoidable disputes between these
nationalist "communisms to assume a determinate role in
;their own future.
--------------
'?■
~
—..................... ’
' ‘
‘
.....................
*
...
i Source: "The Divided......By Gautam Sen, Frontier, Oct 19 - Nov
I
1985, pages 13-18.
ZNDIAN SOCIAL INSTITUTE-DO.OOW MIffltlWZCBE<
P,Box 4623, Bangalore 56OO4£«-
V
1
WE WISH YOU A
'HAPPY NEW 'YEAR '
iSI Documentation Team
ri
*
*
ISI TOCUMENTATION CENTRE
P.B. 4628
Bangalore 560 046
*
31 December 1983
*
*
■K-
*
*
Friend,
*
*
Kindly find enclosed the following documon'ts Z
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*
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*
*
*
IRE DIVIDED LEFT .The division of the Left is a fact. It certainly
reduces its capability of influencing events. In this article
the author traces the causes for this division to the split
that took place within the International
--------- Communism in 1956.
He explains the c
----- ~ •this
’ •
consequences
of
split back at home in
various countries and asks the question "Can such
'revisionist’
countries have a progressive foreign policy ?! 9
*
*
*
*
a^INDlAN ECONOMY
sow; trends . Much has been said recently on the
state of the Ineian Economy and the emrging new trends. This is
a brief survey of the Economy of the past twenty years in
comparison with some other countrues of the Thrid World.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
j. THE HAVOC THAT THE WEST F
---- a“YED
Z WITH EASTERN AGRICULTURE
HAS.PI
In this unsual interview,’ T'
:
the^havoc played by ~some~ of the
modern technologies on Agriculture in Asia is brought
_ z out.
This article will be of interest to all those concenred with
Eucology.
*
*
You
probably have received our inland letter wishing you a
hapoy new year. We renew our wishes for the coming year.
*
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*
*
Our nest dispatch will be sent to you from Delhi ,our new
seat of operation. We hope to be able to improve both the
presentation and content of our monthly documentation.
Our January Dispatch inay come to you late ,on account of
our shifting to Delhi.
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3:
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*
*
X’
IS I DOCUMENTATION CENTRE
KINDLY NOTE OUR NEW ADDRESS
ISI DOCUMENTATION CENTRE
10, Lodi Road
New Delhi 110 003
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H
*
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*
ERRATA . In the numbering of the pages of the documents we are
sending you read 239, 240 etc, instead of 139. The error
is regreted.
*
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*
L
I
INLAND LETTER
—;
C’3M'GE 0F
PLEASE MOTE
. 1986
15th ■
; ODRESS from
E-,i DocuiYtcntatioi. Cyj-.U'10 Lodi RoadWtvJ PeU;i HO G^'
1
.CAsd.iLQ. ./GA-^cL. .Q<<d.'€ I
-^n o va KYW^aka,. „G^^4(do.r(? I
ti
sti
1 B
ii e
U
X
s
1j
1!
p
A
Ri
£
Joi
II
is
!
I
-9
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2
‘4
ajapi
1VHVW PV1
INDIAN SOCIAL INSTITUTE
DOCUMENTATION CENTRE
20th December 198.5
Post Box 4628
No. 24, Benson Road
Bangalore 560 046
India
Friend,
As Christmas and the new year are
fast approaching we would like to wish each
one of you a mQrry Christmas and happy new year.
We also take this opportunity to thank you
for all the support you have given us in our
task.
As a few among you already know, Our Documenta
tion Centre will be shifted to the Indian So
cial Institute, DELHI from January next. This
however does not imply any change in the basic
thrust of our Centre, namely, openness to those
various ideological currents which attempt to
understand the problems of the country from
the point of view’of the poor,victims of an
oppressive system, and to facilitate their
organisation into a counter force.This shifting
to Delhi means fot us agreater oppoxtunity to
continue the task.
While' aware of some of the greater opportuni
ties in terms of documentation and greater
scientific rigor in our work, wo are also cons
cious of the pitfalls of a city like Delhi.As
we shift to Delhi we reorganise ourselves in
order to paliate to these possible dangers.
As part of this reorganisation, the Documenta
tion Centre will have its regional sub-centres
that will maintain closer contact with local
problems and local initiatives and produce documentation materials in the regional languages.
One such sub-centre will be started in the next
two or three months in Madras.Wo hope that some
others will follow in course of time for the
Hindi region and possibly the Tribal belt.
_________ - __
»? A
__ 3k
Perhaps* thos'e who know our small team will like
to learn what will happen to it in this process
of shifting. Fr. Paul and Mr. Selwyn will bo
at the Centre in Delhi while Mr. Sara.vanan will
start the sub-centre in Madras. The new’ address
is as follows - from 15 January 1985 •
Fr. Paul G.
Mr. Selwyn. Mukkath
i
Mr. Sarttvana-n
Documentation Centre, Indian Social Institute,
10, Lodi Road, NEW DELHI 110 003
However, Mr. Saravanaa’s address in Delhi is only temporary
His new address at the regional sub-cemtre will be communicated to
you later.
ISI jxxjUMENTATTON CENTRE TEAM.
-
fl
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I
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69
LABOUR
UND3R CAPITAL! SM
The excerpts g-iven below are taken from ’’Political
Economy of Underdevelopment”, by the well known
scholar A.K.Baggchi. It is a brief historical and
analytical study of the exploitation of labour
in Thrid world countries under capitalism.
THg KECRUITMTT OF LABOUR UNDER CAPITALISM
The'peasantry of the third world are the source of labour for the
mines plantations and factories of the indigenous and foreign bourgeoisie
The rise and growth of chattel slavery under mercantile capitalism may
be seen as ax‘rosponse to problems posed by depopulation in Spanish America,
andx’by the inability ot the Spaniardsx’or the Portuguese to convert Amerin
dians outside New Spain, Peru and Gran Colombia into serfs or slaves. Before
industrial capitalism raised the productivity of labour and1’cut down trans
port costs, it would also have been much too expensive to induce free wage
labour to migrate to the Americas. Slavery ’worked1 for the1*capitalists1’
practising it,"‘just as smuggling, establishment of offices inx‘tax-free •’
havens, the running of oil sheikhdoms by giant oil corporations, worlc for
present-day capitalism. It was forcibly abolished by Groat Britain and the
American. North, because it proved inconsistent with the political and
economic1’requirements of advanced, industrial capitalism represented by the
abolitionist powers.
Outside^’tho strict framework of slavery, Europeans often complained
about fheir inability to recruit native labour for enterprises such as road
building, working in mines, etc/'Tlicy resorted to such"’devices as poll taxes,
hut taxes, compulsory requisitioning of labour, etc, in order to geV’over
the shortage of labour. The rationale of regressive taxation for conquered
populations was lucidly stated hy Lord Grey, a British Secretary of State
for the Colonies in his despatch dated 24 October 184-8. Lord Grey complained
about the ease with which the natives (in this case, the people of Sri Lanka)
could raise their subsistence^ their f'Qfusal to purchase luxuriesx‘of r
other benefits of civilisation, such as liquor, an& their unwillingness to
work for hire! If they could not Be taxedx,by levying imposts on articles
of consumption, or if they"could not be induced to work for ’the maintenance
of civilized society’, then a ’Direct impost must be laid upon them’ (in the
form of a poll tax’*”or hut tax or some other such"measure)"‘and thus they must
uphold that ‘machinery of government and those institutions which were
essential to..progress’ (Curtin, 1971, p.168).
To other problems of moving labour out of a tribal organization was
added a strong disincentive against working in capitalist or colonial14enter
prises. In the case of southern Africa, Miracle and Fetter tiave^shown that
it was perfectly rational, on grounds of"’self—preservation and income
maximization, for Africans to be reluctant to migrate to European-controlled
urban centres (Miracle and Fetter, 1970, Miracle, 1976). Death from diseases
70
anct epidemics was frequent. For examnle. 'in 1011
■>,
-pj.
,
inability"ofQthatl°nk
Ugarida railways) worse iWaninals,"the
rationst t
fanilies with thGD> the insufficiency of
ratlcns^d the lack of supply of foods familiar to the Africans, exploita tion^by shopkeepers, relatively high prices of agricultural goods in"thc "
Of iendiL%r +atl+On" °r i0WnS - al\acted as deterrents.
(On ?he cohdiSions
•ciii£XS^M°nTSrS^SCe ?aS’ 1931 ’ aT'd Guha» 1977) In truth, the '
wnnl 7 5
MT
th® Bur°Pean powers pfoved"to bo as murderous as the
wars let loose by them in Africa and other' continents (see Emil
statement quoted by Hodgkin,"1972, p. 108).
1
n® S
+™r>»S4-rP£aM°a ffrew ana the tribal societies broke down, and as^Afri-cams
the nineteenth century, was"practically completed in 1913
Tho rX t
Act"allotted only 13 per cent of all nJtiSnal land (glnemllj le^ fertile
than average) to the Africans who"then constituted over 9o per c^t of the
'
(M°rea’ ^/'and Wilson, 1972, chapter IS later
Bantustans were established in these overcrowded enclaves. A"system
A mSr6”?1!0? labour+was orsanized to bring labour from India and^hina.
A migrant labour system was built to bring labour from the~neighbouri^
territories of Mozambique, Malawi, Lesotho, etc. The advancod^apitalisi
powers have supported a system which promises a hi^h rate of nrofif
-i
tea capital b,
the teehaola^ of
apparatus of the mercantile era (First, Steele and Gurney, 1973).
In countries where colonial powers ovortlrow
v»<« i#
■,
empires with settled agriculture aS their production basot they found^t
easier to recruit labour for modem enterprises. (For ml t / Das, 1923, 1931, Buchanan, 1964, Mukher je^ WSI, Sris 1965
1972a, chapter 5). Policy-maker^ were"/- /'aware th«+"+h ! ’
Ba£chl»
and cheapness'of labour were contingent"upon the peasants' orXibesmen
that a plot for subsistence of the family Lft at homo‘by^Je wZgQ1S°
was a wonderful way of compelling the whole family to
Wafe-earaer
degree of "self-exploitation. This would then make it possible Sr the”
breadwinner' to work at a wage which iJras really below the level o/
sxst.c o£ ?
chMt„B 2 .a 6
lization in many parts of the third woiild.
«
A.
Peasantry, and slow growth of employment opportunities iTmCt"0"1071?
Potential labour force for capitalistic entorrri°
countries. the
In spite of the low"proba bilKy of gettgJ a W in
insanitary conditions of housing and living urban nr
n.
countries act as"a strong magnStJJr the^aFiabcur ? “
Metro, 1972, Tumor and fackSn, 1972, F^odarTw!)?0
the extremely
W°*ld
OVER WORKERS IN C4PIT4jjIfiTTG EMTER^RISES
Once the workers are brought into the plantations, mines^or factoring
they are subjected to the concentrated and intense exploitation process
charac.tenstic of capitalism. Where planters were reasonably LToT hi •
mg cheap replacements for slaves, the labour process to whirh <,1 % f btalr>~
subjected was extremely wasteful of their lives.
* °S Wer°
71
thyniX USG+ punitive laws and regulations-which literally permitted
ejiptioi^of XS1 h&W?y Wltk nUraGr (see
1973’ chs- 6“9» for des“
on and outside’the Xnt^0C°SS
slavery). Life for indentured labour
n ana outside the plantations was very similar to that of" slaves, at lens+
St
h? ?trst World Wa:£,« Tho labourers were often put under thoi-author! tv
■ chaSisS°nIOr"
CXG^cisC/ thc r5Sht of private arrest; imprisonment aid
chastisement oi the workers (Adanson, 1972, chapter 4, Kondapi, 1951, chapter
Zniaiibc5rtvCto thl4’ C£apteI7,4"X Fnen laws wore changed to restore perso
nal liberty to.thtt.workers, they often romainetl ignorant of, or incapable of
enforcing, their newly-acquired rights. It*'generally tooK decades of strug
gle to acquire even the rights that had been formally granted to then.
§
as il Sam
Or^ized in thc Hidaie^of a peasant population,;
thon
J'£mka> the planters imported indentured labour and paid
a wage which was below the locally prevalent one. The indentured labour
'tX 01^-d
0t^i%gr°UpS diffcrent from those of the lurZndSg PXshn^n -JElade
rolatlVoly easy for the planners to deprive thom^of h
of the 1 “1 impl70*®nQ!\t that might'come about in the conditions of living
of the local peasantry or workers in other industries. Even todnv
S
ofathle’ the VGS
■r?ndian Plantation labourers in Sri Lanka are^a fraction
of the wages of even unskilled workers in other sectors of the economyFlW
1971a, chapter 8, and ILO, 1971b, chapter 6.),.
economyuw,
Beir-of1/^^0111 ^iviieg®3 exceptions, such as the workers in the Copper
-tit?o? X ’ °\workei,s+^
oil industry in nosVcountries, the conSoXlantXn
- ^?he tMrd W°rld
usually n0 bcttor than those"
workers. Their hours of work are long, the equipment thev
tiian*'in;Lth^r:Lh:Ltl^e
Sr^ety Precautions are observed more in the breach
unT^
x.the . observance. Management has often acted, brutally‘to break up trade
union organizations and suppress workers' resist
+t„
£
1
? trade
otno-o™.™ n„-le„lly
”rxt pJ.vLi
benefits, compensation for injury, etc./'to the worker^
?o XsSrXtXtors^^3 "X X 0WlerS
inodical
hand*‘SeXbX2C
.h “ Xng oontractors (i.e. contractors responsible for raising coal of
e minerals from the ninos/'or labour contractors. (Employment of contract
labour is also practised by 6‘wnefs of factories, for similal reasoS)
Sell
nlso°oXthriCed US°d by “inedwners to control the workers: the mine-owners
also own the land and houses on which workers’ families-live, and run linuor
shopb and tuck shops' where thc workers spend their none?. Because*'mires
■
often located m inaccessible placed, it is easier for mine-owners Ind
managers to evade their legal responsibility and to suppress workers’ move*”*mcn vS •
Wo have seen that^Wsurvival of rural connections of labour, though
they can be a nuisance in increasing absenteeism among workers, are useful
X L^tlf
rlln
°?Gr W^S (seG Chapter 2>* Th0 capitalists can
pay little more than
wan the subsistence of the worker. The workers tolerate
^adequate housing fecilitios, when they have a village hone to return X
Also^
A so, it becomes more difficult to organize workers with real rural noonings
SSageX C°UrSe
a 10rtS Strik°’ thG 'W°rkCrS
3iQply diSQPPcar into the
But, of course, in nost third world countries, there are now workerq
fton recruited through internediaries who acted as direct or irdiiect
agents of the managers m keeping control over ttie workers by finina then
on the slightest pretext, dismissing then for minor offences, lending then
and
Ji”0*'
»« »»“”« ‘»oB l„to-'XXS“
and insanitary slums. Workers have Had to form trade unions and launch long-
sxrs ?jao-" *? °btaiv i”1"*
industry,
Y PCrl°
p-stet’sjus*
°f e^^^^nent of manufacturing
72
-capitalists tolerated a high degree bfx‘absenteoisn and 'slacking at
work' which were the costs of maintaining abysmally low wages. With the
growing sophistication of techkiques ih many*'industries and with the growt'| of technology-intensive indurtries, management finds it less and less profit-able to have semi-starved workers working‘'atx'a desultory pace. It has been
suggested by Arrighi (l970tJ that labour-intensive techniques arh associated
with a pattern of employment in which unskilled labour (hot attuned^to the
discipline of wage omployment/’ancl skilled labour (mechanics, carpenters, etc.}
predominate, whereaS capital-intensive techniques are associated with a
pattern of employment in which semi-skilled labour and high-level man-power
(with formal training besides training on the job, for1*ex-ample, maintenance
and production engineers, designers, etc.; are predominatly employed.
■U
However, tftc. pattern of employment of labour with differen^‘degrees
of skill or training is not dictated solely by the 'naiture of technology.
ITor is technology in^regarded societies chosen mainly wi^h an eye ^o the
local supply or different types of labour. Techniques in modern industries
were evolved in advanced capitalist countries, and were naturally adapted
to their specific skill or capital endowments, and to the neecls of manage-rnent of those ’countries"to bring the labour process under management cor. trol (Braverman, J974, and Bagchi, 1978)." Tills process of dissociation of
industrial techniques from local"conditions in the third world has been
accelerated by the growth of transnational corporations, which choose their
techniques on the basis of global considerations of prefit and managerability.
The presumed skill of educational requirements for industrial employment in
such countries as India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka have generally been raised
over time in response to *he emergence of"excess supply of practically
all types of labour. Raising of educational qualifications1'without reference
to specific job requirements has been a device of job rationing. The ILO
study group on Kenya complained that, even in that country, the paper quali-fication syndrome was being fostered (1L0, 1973, P.P54).
xho proportion of so-called supervisory personnel to ordinary workers
m a country such as India is raised over time by several"other factors
The importance of »technology-intensive ’ industries has increased, thus"
raising the proportion of supervisors to ordinary workers! Also, padding
the management with family members is a device both for ensuring family
or group control and of taking out some of the company earnings in the
shape of inflated salaries, tax-free perquisites, etc. The recruitment
pattern of employees"in relatively high-wage industries and firms tends to
reinforce the existing structure of inequality, since the recruitment is
based formally^ or^informally on"the connections of the recruits with the
existing employees and management (see, for"example, Markensten 1972 "
chapter 4). In India, the share of wages and salaries in value added*and the
share of production (as against clerical and administrative^ workers in. the
wages and salaries have declined since the 195os (sothuranan. 1971 nnd
Shctty, 1973).
’
The rise of sone firns in some^industries paying relatively good
wages hardly implies thex,growth of an aristocracy of labour in the third
world, however. The main Boneficiariosx’of the high-wage enclaves are “
supervisory personnel and non-production workers. Production workers in1*
most third world industries continue to receive a pittance by international
standards. In the next section we briefly sketch the role of trade unions'
..4
73
w TR^Je unions -,x. n
, .
Effective trade unions are gererallv
by large units, or in the public foebor. One S
lndustliles characterized
informal sector' is the absence or in-fLf^
major foaturesikof the’
There is a large degree of overlap between
S ? ;TOrkefs '"organizations.
nal sector. Small enterprises vdry ^eatlv ii'i-i0” orpi’1Ses and"the ihforessentially one-man or family affairs mh fn- h^
function. Many are
generally characterized-as in the case of potr Dpnr\Tk0rB’ TheS0 arG
-ree of self -exploitation. Other units"of£ o
“ by a hi®h de5~
workors lower wages than those prevailing in th^l'7
because thoy Pay the
these are organized deliberately by InT-z?fi'Pn+
larSG7scale sector. Some of
laws"and other rostrictive regu^ation-'"^ ® ?erPilses 133 order to evade labour
extendea"by thxe governments rTtX coXtX^t?^ ad^tage xdf privileges
this connection, Basu,
lQ77b')
.(.-u
^all-scale units (soe^in
formally tinder the umberella’of a large business QntGrpriaBsi'which are not
subservient to"large capital in order to obt^ “^nization have to become
etc. Many transnational enterprise hX
narkets' °redxt,
nature of the labour markets in the third world adVar’?age of tha fragmented
duction to sweated-labour enterprises o? te
? subcontract their pro
intermediary
of
contractors
(s
e
J,
for
’
eYnr-Se
g
107
4bcUR through tho"
^J^rnediary of contractors (
and Krcye,
1977).
Naturally,
in
the
’
.
Gcorse
’ 1?^7> Parts 2 and 3,
TZ~ 7 Naturally, in’the
girls,• get tho
1978)”’’ irioludin® young
the worst of tho
the deni
deal ''deo°Banor.ioe^
(d
. A» .
— v-.-vwk*
, u
Pew self-employed artisans, craipsne
craftsmen
^,‘^oe^of ovniing or growing into
large or<small enterprises have
•u
,
the thiw
world, typical units in :many 'branches of &Centerprises,
xon industry in
started
St d
as large units with considerable local
workers political consciousnes ^--.--monopoly power. So long as
wie large units try to play off ‘^r trade union organization are weak,
4- k
unorgam ed against organized Inhnn-n 4,‘
and production in c.fs«oat
ahop=
■ their- 00„trol a(,ainJ«’jXogoTto
certralized factories? where po^sible^
UniGns in
third v^xld
-Q,T out of workers' resistance
w°r2d r±
greS
a^nst the employers1 attempt to cut down
I’or example, workers' milit^'X0?
Elea®re standard
of living. For
in the wake of the two
in the real wages of labour.'
Thiele”!a+S°
up iS Political
struggles against colonialism?
c
effect ofunionism
a from tho effedts of'politic^°J eE1S
dis®n'fca’lSling the
•Orting OOMltlcs of „OTk0„ (,„
JX-
co^tTr^rstronglyXfluScS^J^'Jrbai™^^/1113?8 °f tH°
nattlre“of the state appamtu-
t,
- ?
f
?ass fc,Tce and th® 11
loyalty to Po„», ov.»"^7hrS oapiSlStert^? f traao ""i°"
capitalism"(see Epstein" l07Rfi
t caIat'-1:Late‘i to the forces of"
or Patcistan, trade unions have\l?vZc°V°^"t> CoUn'fcriGS such asx'lndia
the government (as during the greai railway stSke of iSZ tS?
in ordd* to protect the workers' interestes In bo it
" Ind:La^
££IS*;?1
Maghneb).
threh
PP. 206-11 , for developments in the
Trade unions have not been able to raise
real wages of workers
■
74
■“ generally in many third world countries . tfor has the intention of
authoritarian regimes to control trade unions been realized in many
cases. Not only in South Asia, where a considerable volume of surplus
labour is generated by the existing system, buu also m Argentina
where the level of por capita income is much higher and where surplus
rural -.labour"1 is not much in evidence, real wages of workers have hard-ly fisen'since the 195os (sec Sau, 1977, and Epstein, 1975?. Ibis
stagnation is related to the slow growth or decline of employment in
industry, and to the existence of the so-called informal sector which
acts as a labour reservoir for the organized sector. In Kenya, where
the rogdme^of Jorno Kenyatta tried to regiment all trade unions, indivi-dual unions were force! to defend their members* rights in order to
conserve their base (Sandbrook, 1975?. "For total control of workers
movements, wo have to loot to the current right-wing military regimes
of Brazil, Chile and Argentina, which have used terror and violence to
cursh workers* struggles.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ARRIGHI, G. 1970* Labour supplies in historical pors.pep.tivo:
study
of ttie proletarianisf ation. of the African peasant
ry in Rhodesia, Journal of Development Studies,
April.
BAGCHI, A.K.
1970. Long-term constfainsts oh India*s industrial
growth 1951-68, in Robinson, and Kidron, 1970-»
1972. Private Investment in India 1900-1959, Cambridge University
Press•
BUCHAMAN, D.H. 1964. Development of Capitalistic Enterprise in .India,
Frank Cass.
CURTIN, P.D. (ed) 1971. Imperialism, Macmillan•
1951. Plantation Labour in Ijxdia.
FIRST, R., STEELE, J. AND GURNEY, C. 1975.
The South African Conneo-ti on: Wes t ern Inves^men t
in Apartheid, Penguin.
Planter Raj to Swara,-'j, New Delhi, People’s Publishing
House.
HODGKIN, T. 1972. Some"1 African"and third world theories of imperialism
-m,in Owen and Sutcliffe, 1972.
GUHA, A. 1977*
ILO. 1971 Matching Employment Opportunities and Expectationsj A Pro-grammo of Action for Ceylon, Geneva, International Labour
Office•
KNIGHT, J.B. AND MABRO, R. 1972. The determination of the .general
wage^level:. A comment, Economic
Journal.
m/PKRNSTEN.
K 1972. Foreign Investment andfDeycl.pp.mentj.. Swedish
Companies in India, Lund, Student Litteratur.
75
MORRIS, M.D. 1965.
JPhe Emerence of ££-?Adusyrial_J^bour Force India.
Berkeley, California, University of California '
Press•
MO MA, J.K. 1975.
The political economy of thfljpi-r_11i labcn-r"
system; Imperialism, agricultural growth and
rural development in Souihern Africa/' (mimeo^)
-nX^TuluS;110 WIDEr
ce, Tana!
^rospects^'for increasing employment in tBe
ETHLRAMAN, S.v. 1971.
‘
SHETTY, S.L. 1975.
’
AH
-
'
f
•
-LJ. »
JTrpnds m.wages, salarios .and^profits of the
private corporate Secto7. Ecnnomin rnd roll'll
-cal Weekly/October 15.
ronti-
TURNER, H.A. and Jackson, D.A.S. 1972.
TJ^dotornination of the
general wage level; fl^reply
Economic Journal 51 June.
’
WILSON, F. 1972. ^uiLinA_South African Gold ffines 1911-1969
Cambridge University PresTT-----~~ ' ~
SOURCE
yb9’
AMYA KUMAR BAGCHl
The Political Economy of Underdevelopment.
Cambridge University Press-1982
PP. 179 to 187.
gerj^ivato circulation only
>r» -• ...
t! .
' ' '
I
ffW
59
nSi®TTar'fcicle gives
gives us
us a
a view
view of
tile- “"CONFLICT.
of tileCONFLICT..
t^- ^IONJTRATEGY" of the National^Labour
------- IjisiLtute-Rural Section,
Action groups have
a lot to learn, from their approach and methodo—-logy.
nn^+.fey1C^'fcUral labourers, share-croppers, marginal farmers and artisans
poor.
..tribes
econo*.-- „
pSteaS'theh
047
/“I
»f the"freeaM.X-em»t'
ed^ their socia.1 and economic backwardness. "According- to the Rumi
-. SS’r-
-ss
jobs, etc.
The scheduled, tribes divorceti from the national r--' '
came in for a
still greater attention of the founding fathers of1'the mainstream
Const!tiltior
improve their economic conditions the ; ■ ■
....
*.To
government initiated various schemes to
generate additional employment and provide them with subsidiary
~
sources pf
^come. Care was taken to eschew exploitative proclivities of the vested”
n^dT h
S ^course to multipurpose co-operatives to take cJe o? credit
needs and remunerative prices for their produce.
credit
d 1r„ ,^he government, however, relied on bureaucracy inherited from imperial
days to give a now meaning to the ^ves of the rural feof » The result, to say
™gos continued to regietfe I
7
decline (2J. The big industries accentuated the process of rural de-indu-^
trialisation set in motion by ^'British. Thus swollWtlle r^kToJ aXt"
agri-cultural labourers. To circumventenancy reform laws; tenants1'were evicted
on masse(3j.
The per capita consumption of the
rural poor, inspite of the '.
rise'in agricultural productivity, declined (4).
The average per capita income
of an agricultural labourer is only 42 per cent of the national average”(5)
L
is n0\u‘tile result of their apathy to work, on the o^her hand^it as
the result of involuntary unemployment i. o. the incidence of unemployment and
and underBmployment is
The
agricultural labourer
labourer is
is in a?’
,
,very high(6).
The agricultural
neviable position, he has to seek his livelihood from land^without having
Xt‘ /° q-°te Bha^ia "..... Land distribution is highly
Sensus-Dat^T? SlS®
Castos < According' to Agricultural
’ 2’7.^1zl
large operational holdings out of 4 .total of 705
^Sn"\Or/OUS -y 4 Per °ent Ofx ^’to-tal accounted fbr 51 million out of 16^
pillion hectares^ or nearly 31 pef cent of the total land area tinder 35 7
n
occuPational holdings. On ^he other extreme were holdings of less^thnn
cornered^is cle^r from tS.
V
haYab^n flouted anti institutional1-credit
Fnn^h-“T f ° Jhe..followlI1g editorial remarks in The Statesman:
.....Tunjao s Co-operatives Minister, Mrl Jaswinder Singh Brar was pro'u^'Ot rTiggernting whe- rec-tl’- he ocmplaiHod that po-wAot
-
60
‘ yV'
co-operative
to 81vohLP°«X:,n1®2yfa«y? ° feTC”7 b"‘ ”‘>t
^riol-oot-oondltio.
iSE SSSTtts’JXi
formulate sound lavjsA<nnd Tnnv^
x<
idorms.
As if it were enough to
D°‘tOtr
that “’^’'illop.d oouSrK“So eaiaXs2ed°b?£?n?‘-t
paiitio,
SI’KXjS
The bSst of 1 W.« nD^“h
of agfc old traditions.
a
irs J-J* ’ri”oi-
^_?°^ablofe’ as a result
aood ^“-tboTSiX’S 5Xb
In these countries, no Government nossessos
%
h
1
al oli£archy*
swairrT^ baPSle °¥?reQki^ this resistance1. Reforms^ JL^t^be107^
swallowed up by the centuries old bogoy of feudalism" (9).
is reqSreHs^’laS PSt^rSSd^tteeKlegisS?
V
111 ^at
from below. Gunnar' Myrdalnprtdnnn-tlegislation from above and pressure
"KO society ba. Sw^b.tatSJyXfo^Ht.oS W’1’- —<***«*>».
by*a simple voluntary decision nf J
i
by a moveDient from above :
conseience/’to beco‘2 eqUal Sh lower
from its ^^ial"
to class monopolies. Ideals and
i
x< G'
glVG 'theE1 free entrance
■tootle rol./.b^-.ilJX ’o?USfo“:otto,0^“;bo: ■?1!*7
forties, for originating reforms on% E
Jk 7 areJwea]f as self-Propelled
being raised anti pressed forx’ Whon -nM’
\G ^Qy nGed
bulk of demands
grievances, then is time when ideals^nd^oni ^een assembled fey those who have
(10).
GalS ar-d so°ral conscience can become effective"
'i?.:
in
ru»S noSlJtatoXi the ?L?tX'thai?S ‘V Kral“ iB hi<'h» ‘““K «“*
not of that order as in ftininb loJ^
CVf °f ^°^etivity in^Kerala is
The ILO also feels that unioS’th^
credence to Myrdal's bbservation( 11).
Of the rural poor are organised n ^r^ultural labourers andA’otHer categories
legislation lor aetlo^lWal’tooi^sVSo’o™^ ‘u £‘.£0^°°^° '
prosonr. fr„„ below nountod by organised agricultoa? Aoi£(?3)°
’tro"«"‘
dls»al“so°r Iooora2e'>LtSoC£0i
1 per cont of the dgrloulturar labourers oro wtoiS.Hld)
°”17..
loo. not giro u. nay
M to th(, o„;
inreaction
“0to£::the elementary demands of the rural poor.
1
"i
•
??
” °
ownGrs
.
thi. pioti^Sh^.^X™
“I13?7 2f *—"
this
problem with all seriousness.1'1
also come to the^realisation
thnt^iminh
va
-riouo
trade union organisations have
- _.
—, — L —_ _ T
this task. Voluntary
or^nisS^
abtentiori has to be devoted to
Voluntary
ary organisations
organisations are also contributing their mite.
’2-
~
*
?■
' {A1
61
The congenial atmospHerc/'for*' the organisation of rural poor requires a
Se^ortrSX1!?! o'ffencS^gainst £operty/Ifup'S^pprist
public order in the rural areas, arising mainly out of occupation of land an
sharing of crops, the figure*'will swell tipto 154 . That is, more than 3P P
cent of the operative sections of the Penal Code relates to offences agams
property rights1(15).
\
-
The Code of Criminal Procedure even though drastically amended in
has a chapter*'on, 'Maintenance of Public Order and Tranquility'. I arms
e
distXict administration with draconian'powers to prevent any breach m peace
and public order and to disperse any unlawful assembly by use of force (.1 )•
land being the sole* source of sustenance in the village, it is no wonder
that the rural poor are land hungry
Share-croppers want to bo registered to
obtain seo^ity of tenure and the right to sharing of produce as prescribed by
£e W' Many agricultrual laboures still have a vivid memory of how they
x«.
H + usurers and cherish in their hearts the desire to get it back.
Many ot them'operato as share-croppers or agricultural labourers on the lands
thev once owned. "This is particulary true m tribal areas, whenever such
elements launch an organised struggle for the security of<their tenancy righ
or recovery of Pand illegally alienated, or to obtain minimum wages, the pro- i(
o
pPn4 Code or ^he Code of Criminal Procedure are immediately
J
’S. 1 XSi-»«i”
»««»• <« “asSte
often leads to the involvement of militant elements m criminal cases.
In Rohtas district of Bihar, we ourselves found that millitant agricultural ..
labourers had been roasted glive for their temerity to ask for minimum wages as
prescribed by the law of land." Such inhuman cruelty and harassment are en^ug
to scuttle aiiv attempt to organise the rural poor. Their organisations either
hibernate^ Se slowly or suddenly. The legal battle that ensues is so expensive
in te-ms of tine and rescues that .he scales oi justice often come t. be weigh-ed in favour of the rural rich.
li
The situation describee, so far arises out of the fact that the countryside is LreS
control of rural olStos. They have so„t respect for
the social legislations relating to wages, land, debt etc. for it is
informal laws rather than the laws of the land +hat get the precedence (17).
Apart from their poverty and dependence on the rural rich, their ignorance
also stahdsin the way of organising themselves, as pointed out earlier on y
2 p«r cen-t of those interviewed had any knowledge of minimum wage; with regard
to Mhe? Pieces of legislation as -vealed by our experience, the situation
is ho better. Mary of them even uu not know that India became indepen on more
thaS 30 years ago or the nafees of such eminent national leaders like Mahatma
SSSm? Sa
<>‘«- Oaly lufaultcslacl per coat of thoa over
make use of public utility services like railways, post office, etc*
etc.
There is, however, a silverl ining, the rural poor in the various parts
omihtrv are growing festive, which malies them receptive to new ideas.
It is against his background that the National labour Institute (Nil) enters
the countryside.
Wo hold six-day residential camps for the trailing of the potential
organisers of the rural poor in various states of‘ the country,, The camp is
which the IT LI seeks to select
^receded by h field stlrva^ of the"area from
.
In
tho±4course of pre—camp survey, we
participants, numbering in between 30-80.
implementation of laws and schemas
•interview officials having to do with the -.-u.- —
¥
x.
f^ the benefit of rural poor; and try to got their assessment of situation
and their’prognosis. We also meet social and political workers operating n
the region, we are surveyi:ng.
62
Once these interviews are over we fan out into the interior parts
of the countryside. JTornally 1;ho interviewing of the rural rich is Sone
during the course of the day and that*’of the rural poor in the evenings%r
when they are at work. Most of"the interviews of the rural poor are done in
groups. Since their dwellings normally are huddled at the outskirts of a
village, we seldom face any interference fron their masters.
x’ The group interviews of the"poor begin with innocuous questions, which
not lead to answers that the interviewees may fear to volunteer. Delibe
rate attemps are.made by us to seek their hospitality like drinking water,
exchange of beedies, etc. to make the atmosphere a relaxed one. Once the
atmosphere warms up, move on to more subs tantjye questions relating to their
life situation.
Our experience reveals that the Indian/’countryside is both an iron curtain
an an open book. The rich have a convenient money and courageous conscience “
and very careful m their responses. “The constan’’ refrain"being that their
land holdings are small; the Government policy regarding inputs and procure- “
nent militates against their interests; that farming is unprofitable occupation;
that they treat trieir agricultural labourers, whether bonded or otherwise, as
members of their family and so on.
The poor on the other hand aro opon-heartod and have hardly anythin"- t
hide. We have“a look inside their hutt to got an idea of their asset position.
It there^are any livestock, the only enquiry to be made is, whether like land
the animals also belong to their masters, who claim -chen back after thev
for'soue'years (18% We collect figures relating to’'wages,
indebtedness, employment, un-onployment, social discriminations, social
ceremonies and attended expenses, the degrees cf vortical and social integration
horizontal violence, knowledge of laws and schemes, political, g^oaranhicil
and administrative horizons.and myths to which they cling tenaciously.
‘
“^They are very franklin telling us the different wage rates for men,
women and^chiluren. Tne number of days each season they are employed'.' They
have no qualms in declaring their debts, source fr'dm where borrowed fend the
whether +h
e
From their debt position we proceed to find out
Vh i
ln
or free labourers. Figure relating to literacy,
the state of housing, clothing, medical facilities are of course, obvious
to the naked eye.
. .
.y® ^so
information'relating to the web of socia-economie
ties they have with the landed gentry. The women"agricultural labourers,
we fmd, are m a worse position. They have to function both as h'duse-wives
and agricultural labourers, Host of then have hardly more than one Mattered"
saree to drape on. In the rainy season, when they have to engage in transplan-ting operations, ■they aro drenched from Head to foot and“have to pass the
night on cold earthen bed. Their lot during pre and post natal stage is, to
say the least, unenviable.
THE CW
The
iu the six-day residential
ine acdent
accent in"the
Tn tllc selection of participants, to
J is on youth with sone nodicun
nodi cun of literacy
litem
training canp
skills. Older persons
enjoying respectability_iJi their village^ though illiterate but with sone
potential for organisation are also taken,“care is also taken to persuade
sone articulate wonen to attend the cattp initially, wo depended on governnent officials^ to select the participants, learning through our experience
we have given±up.this approach altogether. In the course' of“our precanp
survey, we identify potontial organisers nunboring in between 30-80. To
participate in the camp, they are paid actual travel expenses, nininun wages
prescribed by the state for the duration of the canp and free board“and
lodging. The^faculty shares the sane facilities that the participants have
in the camp, the venue of the canp is always a village school or some such
public building.
63
The'entire canp strategy'is based on a dialogical nodel designed to help
participants reach the following successive stages:
(l)
(4)
Intelest perception; (2) Interest aggregation; (3) Interest articulation 5
Organisation; (5) Action;
To achieve^the first",' we request each participant to recount hisRsher own
problems. Our interventions is limited to the extent of helping them present
the totality of problems and prioratise thenu The participants^ are14 gen er ally
subdued. The camp experience they undergo initially is something entirely new
to their life experience. They are subdued in the expression of their interest
and quite often give the impression ^haVlTLI faculty would help them solve
their problems through their intervention with the persons placed in the higher
position in administration. This impression is created partly because of the
state co-operaiion to the holding of such camps and much more because they still
nurture a strong faith in the power of administration to deliver goods. What
they feel is that if the unholy alliance between ihe lower echalons of bureauc-racy, policy and the rural elites could be broken, al would be right for
them. It is because the slate manifest itself through such functionaries,
insofar as they are concerned. The higher ones to a large extent are invisible
to them. Administration, whatever the level one may refei’ to, again largely
acts as a lightening conductor"!or political leaders in'power, unless their"
involvement in the prepetration of any crime or shielding breakers of minions
of law is direct.
The formal session relating to interest perception is supplemented by
informal chat which not merely brings out more ugly facts but also makes them
more vocal. "The noxt"session is a small group session/’ Each group consists of
persons having frequent opportunities of face to face interaction as they come
from a definite cluster of villages. Before the participants are divided into
groups they are briefed to think of the problems of all those in their area
who are placed in the same or similar"situation. Each person is asked to
particlpat/‘actively in"the discussion and contribute his/her mite. x<Group
sessions generally extend upto 2-3 hours. "The rll faculty is a silent observer
just to assess the degree of the participants’ involvement because it is our
earnest endeavour to see that the discussions. are not monopolished an! that
they are free and frank; Once^the discussion is over, each participant is
expected to list the prolems in the order of priority on a flip chart. In
case a particiilar"'group consists only of illiterate persons, one of the faculty
members give the necessary assiatancc. Language difficultjr is overcome with
the help of interpreters^ preferabley loc^.? village school teachers^ In this "
process we also ask each"group to give us an approximate idea%f the proportion
of the village population divided into rich and poor, it is not always black
or white there are other shades also." The group session is followed by a
plenary one in which each"group presents its report and the written chart from
each group is displayed on the wall. In this"sessioneverbody is free to raise
questions if his"or her experience is different from that of others. In the
process"of tielping the participants to come to interest aggregation, we
intervene in a matter that they may be able to have an idea of"the class
composition of village and that there"is an inverse correlationship between
effort and feward. Care is also"taken to debunk f$lse myths and to give an
understanding of voluntary and invc:antary unemployment etc." At"the end one
of the faculty"members sums up the whole session with the pinpointed objective
of demonstrating to the poor why they remain so.
There is an interlude between the sessions on interest aggregation and
interest articulation. Itx‘is used to provide the- participants with information
relating to various laws and schemes and their administrative procedures. To
give authenticity to what the participants receive, we tyy to make use of offials concerned. It is immediately then linked with interest articulation.
64
We again leave the participants to deliberate in snail groups as to why
with such laws ancl schemes and anx‘army of officers to implement them ,
situation remain no^ merely unchanged but goes on deteriorating. This
brings varied response from the different groups. They ascribe it to igno
rance, illiteracy,"poverty, large family, disunity /’fate, e^c. Here at
this stage we administer some simulated games to generate ar. atmosphere
to seek answers to the central question of poverty. For"illustration the
Btai? power game. It brings into sharp focus the following issues:
(a; why the poor remain poor; (b) whai is the way"out of this vicious
circle. This game concretises that in a system in which inequality is "
in-built the less privileged group or strata will be forced to engage in
unequal exchange, which will in turn widen the gap between the two. It
will utlimately bring about a situation in which bulk of the wealth will
be appropriated^by a miniscule minority and^the vast majority of the
population will"be reduced to the state of near penury. Wo, however,
administer it in a manner that a small intermediate group exists through
out the^game. After, this polarisation has taken place,"we leave the scene
entrusting the economically most powerful group witlTan absolute power to
determine the^future course of the gqme, i.e. how a new equilibrium has
to be estabilishedThe process through which the _ame ends is a series
of negotiations among the three"groups! The group with absolute power is
hardly prepared to grant any concession more"than what be may"call crumbs.
The role of the intermediate group is very interesting; its loyally lies
with the^most economic--lly powerful group as long as the poor do not get
totally exasperated ana prepare for a common stand"to achieve a comm^ii
goal. Once the"poor are"united to struggle, the intermediate group throws
its weight behind them once this Happens the game is stopped. Once the
game is Sver we ask the participants to relate the game to"their life
situation. They are clearly able to see through the mechanism of exploi
tation and the remedy out of it. Once, through the star power game, the
participants have realised why they are immersed in the culture"of poverty
we administer another game-Disarmament Game. This game is ndtninistored by
a person opposed to typify the triumvirate -1 ardlord-cum-moneylendercun-trader, i.e/the rural elite. He divides the participants" in to two
factions representing ^he rural poor. He provides each faction with"a
number of weapons,"signifying factors that impede horizontal"unity and
promote vertical integration * He provides them with money and advises
them to engage in a zero^sum game but at the same time he tells them that
once they cease fo engage in the zero sum game, they would all collectively
gain at his expense to an extent that he would disappear as a class. The
two factions are a.sked tr' elect their re—^active spokesman and are- •.7'en
time to discuss their furrher game strategy after every three rounds.
Initially they start with zero sum game but alter two or three consulation
they see through the reality and take recourse to positive sum game. This
hurts interests of"the rural elites, who plant spies to torpedo their
unity. Quite often the participants are taken, unware and switch bn from
positive to zero"sum game. The game is considered to be over when the
two groups return to positive sum game. Finally when the game is over,
we ask them to relate it to their life situation." Through"a process of
dialogue it becomes clear to them that vertical integration and"horizontal
struggle pays to a small minority among them in the short run ancl that too
an extent not enough to keep them out of thox‘woods! It brings into sharp
focus the internal obstacles to horizontal unity and organised struggle.
There ojc
other games ^iiich we adii—nstur depending on the local
Sj-tuation. "Once these games are over we ask"’the participants to assemble
in groups and discuss the internal and external obstacles that impede the
growth of their organisation. The first factors that arc to*’be more promi
nently highlighted, are myths extravaganza on social occasions, alcoholism,
etc. "Most"bf all, the lackeys of the rural elites"who act as the communi
cation channei and divulge all information regarding the activities of the
organisation are exposed.
65
The external obstacle consists of the various Invnl
i
thwart any struggle fbr social justice and the tie-up between tS^rS1
-Scsite bOy°”- VillaSe *ronti^s °«her in administration oJ pjli-tics otc* This requires
the fiction that
WorTi't^
t0
sHESMHgsWW=
as, the rural poor do not con-tiS » /
-
J' ’ “
necessary, inasmuch
tte?Sh“ho-rX‘°i°t"‘!a'tiai“0“SSi°” "lth .th8n 18 ’ ”r’or «“>* ‘W seo
“ “
S —?“2iS
:s-i".S"E;SS “-“■s =■
The organization also has to make collective efforts to
the
gams from various projects and schemed .purporting to protect maximise
and promote
the interest of the rural poor. a„
The ‘"initiation of action lias to Li
be procodod by the acquisition of information, n,
its dissemination and finding
j appro**.
—priate taciios to achieve the objective*
In late 1976, 'the ILO deputed Prof. Gerrit Huzer, its consultant on
peasant organisations to evaluate our camps. Ho stayed with tis for'3 months
and vaulted several places where we hbld comps. Also he attended one such
camp in Bihar. We quote holow certain extracts from his reporti
condoo^^^^ing aspects of
preparatory work an’d the actual
HIT s+S? s
'?
£aln.
1S thG fa6t thGt the development warier of
^11 staff involved try to be maximally sensitive to the opinions and
grievances of the poor peasants to uso the ’dialogical approach’ as"they
call it themselves (following T’aulo Freire). They consciously try not to
nffaiis"C°uCf:LV-?d
01, plaGsl,as
hoJr Pc-asaj.ts should conduct their
a fairs.^. .unxor^unatciy a training in’the‘art of dialogue4,' particularlv i'*‘
and
bGr C-Ucial ol?,aert in the P^epai-ation of social planners
with nro” 1 trat°^S and °ven social'researchers have been'taught to work
' +h Preconceived questionnaires and other research"techniques"which block
S^dialoffuo
a SenS±UVe L°P9rt
10Cal
not to spe2
of dialogue. Tae camps give ample opportunity to correct ihis bias............
S! 2??? s\tuatlon was4_a ®0°d occasion for the ULI staff and particularly
"
SL'Zhei So^r
S
a.deeper insight Into the"poor peasant situation
c
¥ 1 ^.i.0,0^00130 lt’.......... was enoov^arng to observe how
LZZuZ
1PlitG^ate Peasants know how to describe (often in colourful
language^ and analyse their situation and to verbalise their grievance"once
cloinrr so. They havo"a surprisingly
ey are m an appropriate"
appropriate ’climate for doing
clear awareness how land and other resources
are wasted
resources are
wasted or not optimally
is boin^ wasted
3its.’XETtotcil
tL
-■ ‘»“=
™
—.» cities*
the
:r-?-.
■'
>
Their bitterness about"'these things was generally nixed with.a mea
sure of good humour even when they talked about the risk they were running of
retaliatiQ-n from the landlord bccausex’of the fact ^haxt they had dared to"'
attend the camp It wae a confirmation of their own and their peers’ dignity
that they took risks
Im several cases it was found that the participants
village attracted some peoplex,of neighbouring villages from which ho one had.
participated in the camp to inquire and ask"'for assistance in organising
activities • The camps clearly have radiating effect in the areas where they
are held.
An interesting side-effect of the camps is that a few district and higher
level officials who generally deal with local problems through their subordinate
officials are confronted directly with a gooct number of villago‘‘life situations
After a few daysx‘together with their poors and sene officials in an informal
atmosphere peasants1"speak out their mind with great frankness11 an.d surprise
many officials in an informal atmosphere1 with their cunning and often witty
but sharp analysis of their ovm situation. /. • (Camp) particularly corrects their
bias that peasants are as stupid and ignorant as they appear to be in the
normal setting which is characterised by
oppressive ■ limate. 1‘ ..t.The
’conflict resolution strategy*, as applied by KLI’s Rural Section in Rural
Labour Camps appears"’an imaginative ancl effective contribution in this respec
which deserves national and international support(l9).
TABLE-1
Changes in Agricultural V/age Rates 1960-61 to 69-70
(Rs. Per day).
State
Money wages 1960-61' 1969-7O
Real wage
rates
1969-70
4
Changer in real
wage rates over
1960-61 :n 1969-70
.1
2
5
Andhra Pradesh
1 .46
2.45 .•
1 .40
-0.06
As san
2.29
3.80
2.04
—0.25
Bitar
1 .30
2.70
1 .34
+ 0.04
Gujarat
1 .97
2.94
1 .73
-0.24
Karnataka
1.67
2.35
1 .34
-0.33
Kerala
2.10
4.67
2.31
+ 0.21
Madhya Pradesh
1 .32
2.11
1 .02
-0.52
Orissa
1.26
2.15
1 .01
-0.25
Pvhjab
2.81
6.34
3.24
+ 0.43
Tamil ITadu
; .43
2.65
1.39
-0.04
U.P.
1 .31
2.61
1 .32
+•0.01
SOURCE : National Commission or Agriculture,
Vol. XV. Table 69.1 pp. 242-43
5
67
TABLE - II
Household Income of Agricultural labour 1963-64 and 1970-71
State
Income in
1963-64
Income in '
1970-71
1 Income in
1970-71 at
constant prices
of 1963-64
1
2
3
4
Andhra Pradesh
689.62
876.93
508.38
Assam
1170.05
I6O3.37
801.38
Bihar
607<93
960.75
476.09
Gujarat
1108.14
1290.66
719.43
Punjab
927.64
2308.80
1153.82
J & K
2267.51
Kerala
818.82
1382.18
622.02
Madhya Pradesh
471.51
928.65
464.32
Maharashtra
805.16
1178.56
588.74
Karnataka
690-22
10 51 .09
,538.74
Orissa
593.58
1113.55
624.18
Rajasthan
875.22
Tamilnadu
551 .93
828.06
Uttar
555.73
1111.02
Pradesh
West Bengal
SOURCE :
578.65
1174.57
Data for 1963-64 are from MSS draft Report Mo. 154 Data for 1970-71
from NSS 25th Round. Quoted from G. Parthasarthy & G.P. Ram Rao Minimum Wages legislation for Agricultural
Labour’ EPW
— ---------September 27, 1975.
MOTES
AM
1.
Rural Labour Enquiry -"'1974-75; Summary Report: Labour Bureau, Ministry
G.D.I. , Chandigarh,
of Labour, G.D.I.
Chandigarh. pp. 21.
2.
See tables 1 and 2, above•
3.
Rural Protest: Peasant Movements and Social Change; Edited by H.A. Lands-
berger, MacMillan Press
Ltd. London.
~
“-...I--, 1974, pp. 362.
4.
Corroborated by Baedeker and Rath in their book entitled Poverty in India.
5.
G. Parthasarathy and G.P, Rama Rao- ‘’’Minimum Wages Legislation for
A.grcultural Labourers"? Economic and Policical Weekly; Sep. 27,
27 1975.
68
n^iS Vei*y di^icul4fc to give a precise estimate of the incidence of
nderempioyment. Our field experience, however, convinces us that it
s fairly widespread
Only for agricultural operations, wh^h have to
d 3trick time
the
^ers afIS whoJI dtvi
ork, other operations are sta^srered over timn nnri
i k
■t»
employed only for part of"the"day. The fiZX^or^h 1^°UrQrS °*G
were 90 ri-ivs
tasn
,
iiguros for the days unemployed
P C RorW t TT ?5O“5lnand lncreasod to ^28 days in 1956-57 (Source:"
Vol.’ II, 1976, p?556j Sv£^^I?etp2iencebsSwsDtStUtLX1^tS\
seMSHrssrtunotEt ?o?^?r^3rpp!e99^o?and^i^T* "r^F^keri
Kuttanad, s„v«y of »„tory FloM; ELI Buflotla, Vo’lAl,°So.“°p“2?“Lo.
7‘
^m“£a“Fo('“uS,l'?TO“"olova,’e' °f
8.
Op. cit
9.
N.K. Vien; ’’The Vietnamese EjLpex-ience
ana
Experience
and -une
the T^rid
Thrid World
World”
’L. Bulletin of
T
ITT Wo.
Concerned Asian Scholars, Vol.
VI
3, Sopt-Oct., 19^4, 9
. 3, Sept-Oct.,
The Statesman,
10. Quoted by-W.C. Ileal iti his book. Economic Change In Rural India- hand
Xand
S^s°S1962 TST?
18O°-1955’ ITew Hoaven, Yale tfniverht^
Klohiarfa .„a p,or, p,71,
I\Tew York: Harpers, 1057.
Sp“1“1H0- “>■’19TO-
"•
12. ILO Convention No. 141.
13. Arvind Narayan Das; Kuttanad : ” Survey
f
of Watery Field”,
Vol.II,
vol.II, Wo.
No. 6, June 1976, pp. 216.22O~
14.
NLI Bulletin,
Op. cit.
15. D. Bandyopadhyay; External impediments to the growth of organisation of
rural
m India;
Bulletin, Vol. Ill Jlol 10, p.414.
f
rural
poorpoor
in India;
NLI NLI
Bulletin,
16. Ibid
17. Anisur Rehman et aV;, CCactus, suction
pump cyci. invisibles mcT,: Field rcport
Ratlam; NLI Bulletin, Vol.» III, JTO. 3, p.115.
18 • It is a rr.-mal practice, when a cow c_ 1YU
or^buffaio dries it is given in the
care of the agricultural labourer who tenSs
--J it with utmost care. When
it calfs, the owner <
The same"applies"4to goats,
conditions varvi^a1 from region to region.
i-xunu
19 ‘
Hazer» Conflict and Development-Cases from India; Thrid World
rwi
i97B:
a?: sxs:
For Private circulatic:i only
***************
•!
\
55
SELF-REPGTS OF
VILIAGE PROBLEMS
Of 110-'individuals
Percievo veeir bvn
■..y « The need for
greater uni-uy
stne^irwould .’.leip them
to assert im- n-’r-v
v
-justice.
Sl°i5.’! Wlllagoo- Gopm r,Jra< Sawnli Putar,
Reporter: Surai Mai
We ST D
p.
.nO°'1;22 years
for interview^ bu -” -rl3^
land and So2o
t
Lalpura, Panch
GdUCatGd UPt° 10th cl —
?° .r'ov £ot service fjohs)
We
"d^ave
-Vs SnFFBI-E -
- nf
given tThP1yjc\an&. Corson to oerFon ’ n n’t ' e? have to 90 from
yxven. ihe contractor
giv^..
' V -yj-l-- no loan has been
r'Or givey
construction., whereas
T. 7 • tity' w-‘Si}
work on tank
the
m^i^.um
any justice from the Geu-i" Tr *
is
5' * do net onf
Courts.
dates and then call uy
U2 Tr.ey 50 0:1 giving U3 dif^eSent9
^ar.n.y
for us to go. Th-y hara2 u
h'• . sens oik X; ip
diflicSL
ue
in
order
to
we are attacked a^'dA-,- -■--c
-0 > -t some money When
the police station for r^o--caught
"
5-9ht
quarrel Te go to
in fight
•
epor:
then
they
ask
fot
after giving Rs- 400^500 they
■lle> a3z foj? money. Even
tnoyj.0
not -ao
do ou^
O
vr work
vork
from
a
hariian
ot
..
r
>
nor
t + yi ,en
ovr
’ork ’2,
bhangee ?ha£iian' • . — ; 0:
of fc,. 2000.
200C. Ti-o
1,
2 v.t1^
,nr,’. , u00k land
The
land
‘;'>w
cannot do any
any fa-rf^
Xiongs to „
. : -oney„
’ y fa??;rir.—-“J-ng on the land;
he if not Xfcg 'idi ih
kms.
There is
d°
'F--^ bel?n9S t0 a
n° school m Lalpura, The
aeciref t is about two
There is no ar rm. ge,-; a a-- for ,dL,..
- -ducationfl
Kanhaya' Lal tnuohi in Panch Imli , i-p,
- about 2 years '■? adult
u oh
education
nas taken away inne iHOi'>ey „ hadd anyT i!ione*y '•'Vo do not
know who
Greup 2: (Village - rMungri) Report;or: Earn .nova, Gasiad-a j
aanakundi, Jolar,
'-■hander, abcuo
x J '> - ■,r- - Sarpanch.
Patwari wants bribe for- VU2® do not do
anything for us "r thout money! Wc ^ro*
we pay Rso 400=.bOO even ?:cr
arrange for this
—j n-on
on mortgage o The h
is <-a rule
_,1 that we
building
r
.u
1 °ur
houses•’ This allowed free Thde rorest for
the way,
—
the
There is
no end to toe louhs we iin
We took some loan
n
...
°r
rhe
p
a
n
c
:
iav
t
s
.,
ni
L
rorn
Mahajans,
and took this money fx.-^ L,,^ Oj y n . gii'"; Somebody came
sted him. H is now not &ten anywhere b h2 rcceipt. We truloan to the Panchaya - Semite,
'
'0 have ro still return
- Xff F V.n5f
56
5
There is no school in Damakundli. The nearest is in Pulia
4 kms. away. Population of the village is 250. We have many
social evils like dapa (bride price). This dapa is given by
the boy's family and they take a loan for this purpose.
We have formed an Adivasi Samiti to fight against social
evils. We have some 200 members in the Pandva Tehsil. This has
been registered at Jaipur. There is no arrangement for adult
education. We have tried und going from village to village hav;
prepared a list of people who would like to attend adult
education classes. We had sent this list to a person who came
here; in this connection nothing has happened thereafter.
We ourselves can run these classes and we can do this easily
in Rajpuria and Dam Dumri.
.We have land but it is not of much use because of lack of
irrigation. There is a tank in Jalar village, but water does
not stay. y;ells also need to be deepened. There is a river
Sangla in the area and it is possible to put a dam there. We
have been corresponding for this purpose. It is necessary to
keep godowns of fertiliser in villages. We have to £o 6 to 8
miles for getting fertiliser. Primary Agriculture Cooperative
Society is there, but some have become members wrongfully.
Some of us want to become members but we are not given the
chance. Some Panchayat members are also elected wrongfully.
We do not have any post office and no facility for a nurse
or compounder. During rains, there is water everywhere and
we cannot go anywhere.
Group 3? Report by Shanti Lal, 22 years.
There is a middle school in the village but no building.
No seating arrangement for children during rains. They are
therefore given holidays. All 150 children and 8 teachers sit
m one room. There are total two rooms. One is adjoining a
nullah_which is flooded during the rains and children cannot
cross it, preventing them from going to school. There is an
urgent need for a bridge over this nullah. In Ambamata there
is a well m the Khera area. This can irrigate some 300 acres
of land. We have collected
to 7 thousand rupees and already
installed there a motor. Connections have also been made.
Unfortunately, there is no water in the well which reguires
digging and deepening. This was to be done by the government
as per the understanding, s their contribution. They have ’
done notung to carry out this project. The result is that
the motor has been lying idle and may be spoiled. The
government officials say that there is no need for deeoeninq
the well, as the purpose would be served by collecting'water
at the nullah. This has never happened and collecting water
is a difficult task. The BDO has also been transferred since
then.
There is.a Primary Health Centre, but there is no building
for it# It is housed in a rented building. The landlord wants
this to be vacated. Sometime back we came to this place (the
venue of the training programme at Ambamata - the Dharmshala)
and wanted to occupy it for the Health Centre. The temple pri
est objected and prevented us from doing so. We also broke
open the r:om but did not occupy because there would have been
a quarrel.
rw
57
>
We don't have any Cooperative hero for fertiliser. I myself
wanted to become a member of such a society and the Panchayat
wanted Rs.2O as membership fee. I was not taken up as a member
in another village and now my village also does not take me
as member. The Manager does not agree and the Panchayat wants
bribe. The Panchayat gave us some government;, land and we have
been using it for the last five years. The Sarpanch has taken
bribe from us but he has still not given possession of the
land to us.
A boy stood up and reported: Under the Antyodaya they gave
10 milk goats and one he-goat. The doctor took Rs. 100 as bribe
for passing these cattle. The cost of these cattle was esti
mated at Rs. 2,000 for which a receipt was taken. In fact, the
cattle cost only Rs. 1,500. The rest has been taken as bribe
including the fee for the doctor. Thus, our loan is for Rs. 2,000
which we have to pay back in instalments of Rs. 300 each.
One year ago another person (Sukhlal) from Batmeshwar villa
ge got a card under the Antyodaya scheme. He was to have been
given a loan of Rs. 2,000 for opening a small shop for bidi.
This loan has not still been given.
Group 4: (Villages: Birawali, Arned, Gomteshwar, Cilpat)
Reporter: Kanhyalal, 20 years, educated upto class XI
We don't have any adult education classes. No village in
this area has such a class. Two days ago we held a meeting and
some 50 to 60 people came showing their desire to attend adult
education classes. We have also a teacher (Phool Chand). He
is educated upto class VIII. We propose to start classes on our
own.
For our cattle there is no drinking water. The wells get
dry very soon. We have to bring water from about a mile. We
have land with black soil and we got one crop during the rains,
vve get cotton crop. This not enough because there is no
irrigation. People in Antyodaya go for construction work. They
get Rs. 5 per day on road construction. Now workers get only
Rs. 4. We have built a school under the Food for Work Programme.
Group 5: (Vallagtess Panmori,
biikhera, Dorr, Goria ).
Reporter : Amrit Ram
..i, 20 years old, educated upto 7th
class.
Great difficulty of drinking water. There are some wells
No water. There is a tank and it is possible to put a motor.’
ror this the villagers of Panmori had collected Rs. 10.000'but
the government did nothing. The money had, therefore, to be
refunded to the villagers. Some time ago there was a fire in
the village and there was no way to contact officiaJs. There is
a need, for at least one telephone in the village. There are
no roads also.
panch. Then also the doctor took Rs. 20 and gave me proscription
of briba
The patidars have taken all the land. There is no land
even for building houses for us. The patidars have snatched away
there hive bee^fiihts T iS totally illegal and many a times
nori nave been fights. In one case we collected Rs. 40 by contribution and gave to Shri Sharma to get a medical certificate. Now
too case .is going n m ihe C.^rt r . .
W
58
<
from chamars and kept this with Barani. They go to farms with
guns in hand. In the Gamaria village people have paid Rs. 100 to
Rs.200 as bribe to the Patwari. Half the people do not have any
land. We have gone to the BDO and have also met the Patwari.
From people the land has been taken back after they had
possessed it for 3 years. We also met the MLA, but he did not
do anything.
In Rathagana village, people gave receipts with their thumb
impressions to some official without getting money from the
Cooperative Society. The official obtained all this money from
the Society^and then disappeared. In another someone took away
the share of a loan which the cooperative gave for house building
b/ giving false receipts to the society. This has been going on
^or.the last A years. In yet another case, everyone deposited
Ks. 150 with (they named the person) the Secretary of the
Cooperative Society. Some 45 persons gave this money. He told us
that he would get us Rs. 4,000 each for building a house. There
after, he just ran away with the money. We reported the matter to
the Panchayat Samiti, but nothing has happened so far.
There is a Vakil Sarpanch (they named him also) but he does
not take any interest. He hardly comes to the village. I myself
am Sarpanch, but what can I do alone. People are afraid.
In Rathagana village, Bhagirath took loan of Rs. 60. He gave
back Rs. 50 and after 2 years paid back Rs. 10 by way of interest.
Now the Mahajan wants Rs.300. He himself is a meghwal. The
villager had worked for the mahajan for 2 years. After all this
the mahajan insists on taking Rs. 10 per month from him. All
his prayers have failed.
For Private ciuculation only
*Translatod from theginal text writton/spoken Hindi
mixed with local dialect.
SOURCE
PRAYAG MEHTA
"Tribal Youth Camps in Rajasthan"^
National labour Institute Bulletin.
Vol XI, No.1, 1985.
pp. 5? - 55
4 SML GR.JJPS WORK - ON VILLAGE 1 PROBLEMS ■ /
'T r > i
voices-froi< the Culture' or silwce
J
i'
/
‘
J ■
50’ 4
■1 w
.
;
J l.H '
■
;
'
i
. regeeoigc ria
!J
■
x
:
.J ;
. I y .
j-,
Jp.
,
This
report
‘
by
th©
Trihal
Youths.
:
of
rKbtra
giwsydf
il x r"u':d
c, 41 la . bop. -. < .
Porciove their oWhi'rri
y us3 a
g ' heop
ieopx‘insight of how they porciovc
so ci p-ocdnoniic status
‘thoir.
thoir struggle to dovedeve. v;;o u ns: 7
-rlop', th ems elves • If’ i.s: OT. upid.ll ta.sk before them.,
:
,'dl rrl-J?
,
■
r z
£3 |
Juc * bn
■
;
‘
•'
.
; . p.m ‘ flgunp
Ti’b O-. • vJ;
. i
•
■.
i'
'1
■
■
beanojno
'
;
h
:
1
/
;
'
.
It
f
1 rb
.
J ..§3
;■
}
’
,
.■:!
■■
r
'■
\ ■'
. ruj;"'
UHb ■
'
b
. £1 - :
■
I
Sixty odd participants were divided-among five, qrouos on- the
,lba\9is: ;ofj their Panchayat and village cluster.’they .$,at together
consensus Poff ^eP'tions ab^t.theit problems) an! came^o a
consensus. One of tnem was ngmed by them to report the'cbnclusi)S,d
dlscu5'sioos to the community. The following is- brieT
ef the joints’- raised b^ the 'various grdups: ’ ‘
'Group T: Report by a partic IpanV fr om Milage 'Badli and by Anil
Kumar, former Dy. Sarpanch from Gqpeepla.
7
1. Faced continuously with the problem bf
<
shortage of grain.
Our crop does not comp properly on time.» W' do not have any
food, any work. Many a time we live on poovar ( a type of grass)
and sometimes also eat chapati made of grass.
2. We don't have any land. The Patwari harasses \us all
" the
i;
time.
He threatens, even beats people and get their land
' ’ For~
..J vacated.
taking possession of surplus land bribe has to be paid to him.
3. No adult education facility. Education is lacking. There are
two primary schools, one in village Badli with thir?y children
and anotner in village Gopeepla with thirty-two children upto
class V.
H
4. No hospital. We cannot come to K'. tra in rains. Have to go
without any treatment, most of the time.
5. Nd irrigation . facility.
There are 3 to 4 wells
.’ n’ n”
--- -*iinBadli and
7 in a inearby
’
village. But the level is higher than the
river. Water
does not come --into wells.
,
---- - Saber river is uoaxwy,
nearbv.
but no advantage.
6 to
6. Our village Gopeepla is surrounded by two rivers and there
are no roads. We need a dam on the river in Umaria village. With
out road we will not get electricity. We see all these facili
ties across the river m Gujarat area. To our great misfortune
we see the water from Vakal river flowing wastefully like blood
from our body.
7. The Cooperative 'Credit Society in Badli is captured by one
family. Secretary is the son, father is the Chairman and their
muneem (accountant) the Treasurer. These shopkeepers have mono
polised the Credit Society and give us loan on high interest
They giv- Rs 400 and take a receipt for Rs. 500. Sometimes they
take d i_....ipt for even Rs. 800 by paying only Rs. 400. Sarpanch is
trying to get the building of the Panchayat Bhavan constructed
next door.tonis shop and residence. This will obviously
benefit him in his business.
7
51
Hari Krishna, Sarpanch reported that there was not even a
Primary School in Bordi Khurd and Bordi Kalan.
Group 2°o (Sundrap, Kotra Chhavni, Kandi, Gandhi Sarana and
N-ayabas) Report by a participant from Kandi village.
1. Grim problem of unemployment. Some people get work on road
construction in exchange of 2 to 3 kilos of grain. Here also
the Sarpanch deducts his share. The labourers thus employed are
about 190 spread over four villages (Nayabas, Subri, Gandhi Sarana, Kotra Chhavni).
There are no agricultural workers here. No scope for employ
ing them on these small farms. People have to go out of their
village to far off places in search of work and have to be away
for about eight months in a year. Many go to Gujarat to Himmat
Nagar and other places and do odd jobs.
We feel that there should be factories and small industrial
type work as well as more facilities for agriculture in the area
2. All kinds of illegal taxes, i.e. loot going on. The police
treat the thieves and Sahukar (honest) in the'same way, and take
bribe from both. The police ask for tampa (bribe). This is a tax
which they take for responding to a complaint and to take any
work in their hands for the villagers. They do not work without
such bribes and illegal takes.
3. Public hospital is small. We want
adequate medicines and doctors.
, a big hospital with-, a
4. Continuous harassment by the shopkeepers. Theft weigh things
in such a way that they take more when we. give them and give
less when we take. No accounts are kept. This is loot vyapar
(dishonest trade). i/Ve take small loans from them and have to
pay back two.rupees for one rupee in two days. Failing this,
the shopkeepers depute their naukars (servant musclemen) who
are their pathans. The common saying here is that Naukar Bhai
is comingf He will now beat us. In this way village people
are terrified and intimidated by the shopkeepers. There'are
instances where a villager (in village Kandi) took some. chillies
worth 25 paise. He could not give these paise within two days.
The naukars then came and the. villager was forced to wo2?k for
one full day without any wage.
In village Gbpeepla a villager took 40 rupees from a shopkeeper.
He could not pay. His servant beat him mercilessly and called
him. filthy names. In this quarrel, the shopkeeper also got sli
ghtly injured. A case was registered against the villager. He
ran away from the village. Ultimately he.was caught. He paid
20 rupees to police, returned 40 rupees} plus 10 rupees, to the
shopkeeper and in addition he was challaned. The case.is still
pending in the court. The villager will have' to spend much more
money by way of bribe or fees to the vakeel in order to. get. re
lease from this case. Failing this he might be sentenced and put
into jail.
The son! (goldsmith) is another source of harassment. He wouB
not give anv loan without some gold ornament or silver ornament
mortgaged to him. He charges 10 paise as interest for one rupee
per month. The time limit is usually from one to two years.
Many a time he plays tricks and sees to it that the villager is
unable to take ornament back without the"time limit. In this way
he gets the ornament for just nothing.
: ?
52
4
•
Therf.should be arrangement for sarkari vyaj (government
interest), some kind of back arrangement from where we can draw
loans on reasonable interest
'
Group 3s
’
’
/______________________________..
(Representing Khajuria, Mandva ? Kookara, Jhad).
1. No work. Some of us are getting work for food but from where
to get . clothes
necessities. No facilities for pillai,
. 4_. and „r other
n
i.e., irrigation^ 'Wells arc without water* Not enough even for
drinking(o
2
No facilities for adult education.
3. No hospital Doctors never come from Kotra. V,We have always
to go to Kotra. It is difficult to go in rains, Many a time we
have to physically carry sick pc
persons on our shoulders across
rivers and hills to go to Kotra.. We do not get medical treatment.
4. No Post Office*
5. No work for educated. There are some educated upto class XI.
6. Difficult to get forest work without .bribes. No forest land
for cattle. The forest people have put their gote (boundary)
everywhere. Leaving no land for us.
7. There is no bus service. There are some private buses, who
charge so much money.
’
Group 4s
Report by Hari Krishan, Sarpanch of village Mahidi.
1. Problems concerning our homes and families;
(i) Our families are large, generally 5 to 7 children, and we
have no land and no houses. The land is hilly and not fertile.
It is not levelled , therefore, not good for agriculture.
(ii) No facilities for fertiliser. In absence of this, our crop
is meagre. We do not get enough food. The crops are iowar.
kadru ( a kind of coarse grain), cotton, mustard. All these
depend on rains. When there is more rain, all washed out, when
there is less rain everything burnt. Generally, therefore we
have poor crop and not enough food.
2. Problems of villages :
(i) No facility for irrigation. There are about hundred wells
in the Panchayat. While digging wells, we are faced with stones
There is only one Compressor Machine in the Panchayat Samitiwe send it here and there, with the result that no one properly
uses it and most wells remain incomplete. There are only rainy
season wells with kachcha pani, i.e. no permanent use of water
Out of 100 wells, only 25 are in working condition with kachcha
water and 75 are out of order. There are only 3 pucca wells in
3 villages. Others have to go there even for getting drinking
water. 50% of the wells have been built on loans from the Small
Farmer's Development Agency75 wells are incomplete even after
the grants were given.
J
3. Problems of the Panchayat;
r
(i) There is no Panchayat building. We are in a :rented building
No road connecting Kotra with panchayats and other places?» We
5-3
are in between Gujarat (Himmat Nagar) and Rajasthan (^daipur)
the two district headquarters. We don’t know where to go. In
between these two we are treated as lavaris (orphans). Dividing
four villages there is a small plot of land which belongs to
Gujarat. This creates lot of difficulties for us. We do not
know where we belong. Many of us, therefore, feel that those
neighbouring villages snould go to Gujarat, so that our prob
lems can be solved. We see lot of development work going on
there.
At the same time we have to come by crossing rivers
and
because
there —are
no roads in the village. Even
, .nullahs
-----;— ---------- —
- -Even
during sickness we have to go to Kotra with our sick people.
Many times we could not go there.
No. facilities for cattle and their treatment. We can go to
Lambadia in Gujarat 10 kms. away, where we can get treatment,
but it is also far off. There was a nurse at the sub-centre of
Primary Health Centre in our area. Now that nurse has also
been withdrawn and has been posted at the PSC Headquarters.
Her salary is chaiged to the Panchayat budget. It is necessary
that the nurse is posted back at our Panchayat and steps are
taken to give us a hospital.
Sometime ago a foundation stone was put for a dam. This W3&
done during 1974-75 by one of the then Rajasthan Ministers.
Even a canal has been built. But unfortunately there is no dam
It is almost like building doors for a house even when there
is no house. Not even a map of the house. They have put stones
here and there but there is no boundary o^. dam anywhere. We *
hear that there are 29 lakh rupees for this dam. This was
mentioned in November last year by Shri Boru Lal, MLA from
Gogoonda. He also told that Rs.1 lakh has been released for this
ourpose. However, no work has still been started.
Shopkeepers, mostly grain merchants, harass people very
much. These persons enter one area with just one potli (small
bag; and gradually spread their legs all around. They make
money in all transactions. Give loans on c„
our products and charge
more from us when we purchase the same from them7
.... For example
they would pay only Rs. 2 for one Kilo of cotton, whereas market
price is Rs. 2.50. They would say either cotton is not good
or that Rs. 2.50 is a Wxholesale price andbt retail price. They
have many other ways of cheating us. They may say cotton is
phindkar (wet). They therefore, deduct five kilos from one
quintal of cotton if we ask for proper price they threaten
not to take our goods.
Group 4: (Villages Sikladairi, Mahdi and Mathara)
Report by Mani Shankar.
1 u.^sssment
. ”
by the shopkeepers and businessmen. The
The cloth
cloth
which
costs
Rs.
They try all methods to get Customers indebted^ themf fnetre*
2. No hospital in the area.
3. As t.’iere is no bridge on the Saber river andI no roads available, no transport facilities are there. There -was a proposal for
building a bridge on the Saber river or on the Waav Naka and it
is heard that a budget of Rs.40 lakhs was sanctioned for this
purpose. Nothing so far has come of it.
I
54
“at«- As there is wheat
water. They don't get “aUr e"“d^iSrthO”/?ttle‘o
Urgent need for a tank in the -rr^ tv9 th? rains‘ There is an
it is khoda, i.e.
X"
mere 1S a siokla tank' but
5. There is no Post Office
^l2_'PriFiary School is housed in a '
~.a?!2c!?
throughout the rains. It is difficult
toa building which leaks
--- -J go to the school.
f°r®st people include even the r~
land in the forest
area just to harass the villagers and revenue
to
get some bribe•
36ofnbS%heriUIs^?ascSooft\yan$Xothei±a?uhaS 3 poPulatior>
Kolia village has
without a school.
scn°01- Many other villages like this are
So ^r.PSty:aer?0^re1^daSSalf?r
60° baCk for a
a buffalo to a shopkeeper? Afte^ vX^3
one tribal soU
The shopkeeper brought it back to thf
J ? buffaio got sick,
done some kind of magic on the catnf =
faying that he bad
back and return his Sne?? All pfeas th2? £uff
^Uid take ib
the shopkeeper for four years and he
bl,ffa|o had been with
ghee from it proved of no uJe
® ?-d 90t a11 the mill< and
keeper by taking bribe and'hl’pS'tSe01^!?!;
shop-
For Private
♦Translated from the original text written/spoken
Hindi
mixed with local dialect.
SOURCE
- PRAYAG MEHTA
"Tribal Youth Camps in Rajasthan"^
National Labour Institute Bulletin.
Vol Al, No.!, 1985. pp. 49 - 52
•xaJ
}
SELF-REPCRT^ on. socio-economic conditions*
VOICES FROM
47
THE CULTURE OF SILENCE
ajasthan as a whole is a Socio—economically back- 1
-word, state. There hasx’bee-nx‘a corfBinous land
alienation and increasing landlessness specially
among the Bhil Tribes. l>he tribal youths who
participated in educational camps organised by
NLI give an account of their situation.
i?
IhlX diXn?inking Water facility- We have to bring water from
-u w i x y
•Lovailvt'i
?^d + takerfor water, a hostel for our children and some
Wp
ndusbries for work. There are collective accounts for land.
We want individual account for each piece of land. Some families
celvedeZnySfan5 )etf°r AntYoda¥a
but they have not reTr> „In the settlement
n4.
’ land has pone under demarc-ation. We have
to
the pay
landa penalty
fo^^Lt
“ f°r farming- They have confiscated
a5e If?? I?Sel t? fi10Th teHare beaten , by them. The forest people
for of? caSTi ?b
They do not even allow us to use the land
tor our cattle. They are themselves destroying forest and at the
same time taking away our land for plantation.
no i^nd SAn?h: Gan^ally harijan families have many children and
fc 3 1 dav afd hfv?
may ?aVe1 ?° 2 acres’ They earn ab°ut
ffi.d a day and have to spend more than this. To get work for one
day we have to wait and sit at homo f“r 2 daYa- Chlld^Sgo to
schools without propo^
—j -the
l,
proper ^i~-n
clothes and
teacher throws them out
bftmhiJ!
are boys with educa’tion^pto''vni to X class
We have neither bamboo nor wood for our huts. One bamboo
costs eight rupees and we may make 3 baskets from one bamboo.
It
is, therefore, not at all paying.
Nobody listens to us. neither the minister, nor the sarpanch
nor the patwari.
(Kankarbari, Kurbalghar Tehsil): in Banswara, 90%
People are tribals and harijans. Out of 120 houses in our village
only four families have land. The rest of them have to do maiduri
(labour) getting fis 2. and 2.50 for a day for males and Rs. 2 and
ev n less than this for females. There are no fixed rates We have
W?°d fJ°m
fOTest in order to survive! Mott houses
are made, of wood and bamboo which are now in very bad condition
of the Entirena?eate|+ M/ashedby rains. This is the condition
irrjnltinn Tht
*'
? Lhllly area• There is no facility for
irrigation. The people of the tehsil are always in trouble some-'
times due to floods and sometimes due to drought. There is no
fest
reKief work goes for 15 days i" a month. In
rest of the days, there is no work. There is no facility for
transport. We do not get any seed or fertiliser. The Cooporatlvo
4
I
48
Stores sell these to the- traders, who charge fc. 105 for one bag
of fertiliser, whereas they p$y only Rs. 85 to-the Store. The relief
work gives Rs. 12 in a week. This is given on the btsS ^f nlpU*
J J’ dH99ing °f plt measuring -10’ by 12'. Five: persons dig one.
about -20ykJ°Jf wJ°P+e working on tar roads get 15 days' wage and
aoout z!U Kgs or Wheat per month.
He is educated up to. class X.-and is working on a farm.
a a2Jya^14-SBa?id?;F3 Tehsil); Most people are tribals and
harijans in the Tehsil. Most of ys are engaged in farming. The
government does not provide us with necessary means and facilities
for farming. Due to poverty,
- - People are not able to purchase seed
bullocks, <etc.
’
Ne do not get loans. VVe have to give fees (bribe)
for everything including
”
i :’r education, for getting admission
to schools. Not (even
25/6 have regular work. Officials spoil all
for us .
Mansukh: He makes bamb<
baskets. One bamboo costs about
L* k’
£our baskets can be made out of one bamboo One
npTthJrfethheS 2 paili grain’ about
2-50 rupees.
rupees. VWe
nothing
about 2.50
’ have
‘
’ 7
neither a house, nor a cow, nor a bullock
just
nothing.
The
just nothing.
daily wage is between 2 and 2.50 rupees.
9 The
Bala Ram (Bagidora Tehsil): Some people have 5 to 6 acres
namea7?
irrigation. People do not. have any
therefore, they live on debts. That is why the sagri system
comes They are having social evils and wJong altivitiel; The
moneylenders force them into wrong things and then they are forced
bo take loans.from them. Persons in the village are born as iJJ d
(iebted, live in indebtedness and die as indebted. Houses are
of bamboo and wood. Harijans suffer from
The bar—
bers do not cut their hair. If they do so many
■they diseases.
charge
more
money.
They are given sagri by the farmers, i.e. grain for
*
j
one
year
m lieu of wages.
The village itself is responsible for its difficulties
______
___ There
are so many government rules , ’but' implementation
’
is uxuxes.
not there.
The scheme for giving loans
filled a'form fbr getting a iJan^Fh^toHg; twice^o'thl°tLn
for this Pc?meSe dnd spent I!s’ 200 ln the Process. The loan has
still not
Bansra (Bagidora Tehsil); I am a barber, I earn mv livoliH^abSsel meinHe°hasr|i
S?V3k indVlges in untouchability.
He abuses me. He has also beaten me. I have no house, no wife,
the slvak Th^law suit
Way*-1 10dged 3 comPlai"t against
cKbilitv law Jp Jen th T" 9°ing °n- This was a9ainst untouto work YTh n H
J
threatens me and prevents me from going
doeZ Jot waJt toJnmr?
9°in? °n for last 12 m°nths. Sevak
aoes not want to come to a compromise. He threatens to kill me.
Nathu Ram (Bagidora Tehsil);: Everywhere
there is bribery
1
The government is doing so much for us, but the governJeJFofficials demand fees for everything.
everything. II have
t09six acres of land
have five
five to^six
sons, all of whom are married. None
them his
None ,‘ of
of them
has J
^apra (hut), nor land. One boy works as ua peon
in a school. He
has n.-- .J"* nJc salary since last four months.
^Bidla (Village Baasala, Tehsil Bagidora): .I was a sagri
sagri,,
later the government gave me land. However xu
it was stony. The
Collector told the Patwari to change the land,
\ However, .Patwari
has still not done it. The Sarpanch also gave
an order, i.e..9
1
<
49
the land lying idle may be used for farming. There are 20 acres
among 4 persons who have been recently freed from sagri. Now
we must get this land.
Raman (Village Tanda, Tehsil Sajjangarh)? We are three brothers
and have 5 acres of land among us. We all live in one tipri or
hut. We do not have any bullock. We work for making bricks. We
go from village to village with the? contractor
(
for making bricks. We have to eat on our own. He gives; Rs. 12 for making 1,000
bricks, Four persons have to work the whole day for preparing
1,000 bricks. The wage, therefore,, comes to Rs. 3 for one person
for one day.
Kalu (Village Mandela, Tehsil Garhi)? Traditionally a grinder.
I have been operating an indigenous grinding machine for atta.
New machines have taken up this job even in villages, and,
- J, the refore, inobody
’
’ ’
wants my machine.
One person earns and‘ "5 persons
eat in the family.
*
Translated from the original text ' ^itten/spoken Hindi
mixed with local dialect.
For Privato oirculatio,x inly
SOURCE
- PRAYAG MEffiTA
“Tribal Youth Camps in Raj as than,r.
National Labour Institute Bulledn,
Vol XI, No1, 1985. pp. 48 to 49-
I
39
WAGES AKfD WORKING CONDITIONS ON MUTE WORKERS IN SINGHBHUM
____ ___________________ DISTRICT, BIHAR
______________
INTRODUCTION
This study is concerned with analysis of some aspects of wages,
working and living^conditions of mine workers In Singfibhum District,
Bihar. A peculiar situation may be"seen in fiihar. On the one hanl
there is an abundance of minerals"and other natural wealth while on the
other hand lies extreme poverty and backwardness, feis is particulary
true in regard to"Singhbhum. This study attempts"in brief to present
certain details on the mode of wage payment to mine workers, the
"
problems workers face in the receipt of minimum wages in certain mines
and the pathetic conditions of contract labour in construction"activities
in large mine projects, ^fee purpose is to answer questions concerning
the extent of low wages." (i.e. lower than tfie"stipulate! minimum payable
to workersJ that are being paid to workers in non-coal and iron miner
Singhbhum district.
Tliis Studj is cased oh a visit by the author to selected mining Areas
in Singhbhum district namely Chaibasa, Gua, Kiruhuru, fteghabatuburu Iron
Ore Project (.MIOPJ and Ranchi and a survey'of background of the region.
In addition, the author interviewed (i) mine workers who1’actually1'were
working at the mines; (ii) mine supervisors to collect information from
their records if they did maintain thuse; (iii) officials1*from the
district Labour Department and also from the MOP, trade union leaders
and^activities of^hc Singhbhum General Employees Union, ^Some general
trends were discernible on the problems of^mine workers in Singhbhum
from the outcome of these endeavours and an attempt is made here ' to
focus on those.
THE BACKGROUND
Singhbhum forms the southernmost part of iBihar State Wetering on West
Bengal and Orissa." it is a part of CKotanagpur region known for its
abdundant forest andiMmineral wealth and^ihabited1’mostly by adivasis.
A large portion of India’s needs of iron, coal manganese, mica, chine
clay, limestone, copper, uranium, lac and wood are met from this area.
The vast natural wealth of the area stands out in sharp contrast to the
extreme poverty of the adivasis^who inhabit it.1/ fee adivasis are sub
ejected to ruthless exploitation (a) of'varieS kinds arising from, to
name a few, commercialisation of forests, extension ot mining activity
to private contractors, progessive land1'alienation, invasion"of job
seekers from other1’parts of Bihar and unrealistic multipurpose projects
of the state governments (bj at different levels1’either by the mahajans
and traders who buy their forest produce cheap and sell them at a"much
higher price; of contractors who offer them jobs but pay wages consi&er-ably lower than the statutory minimum wages prescribed by the Govern-ment and who also charge them oxhorbitant rates of interest for their
borrowals of cash or kind; or (c) by the forest corporation and forest
department (set to improve the exploitation of the state’s forest wealth)
whife in their"process of operation have completely"bypassed the adivasi
economy fty planting teak whlch"gives the adivasis only wages for forest
operations, rather than planting sal, mohua or other trees used by the
adivasis to satisfy a wide range of their daily needs.
k
40
In the last few years, with the exception of some parts, Singhbtium which
is agriculturally backward has suffered enormously due to continuous
droughts, the not outcome of which has been chronic unemployment.^
Several roasonsx‘haveA1been attributed to this : gradual decrease in land
yield, increasing land alienation, largo increase in the number of school
dropouts^who aro^unemployed mostly and thus forced to^sell their assets
for living otc.^ For most if not ail the unemployed in this district
employment in minos-limestone, cfcina clay, stone, etc. remains the onljr
source of work for living offering them a possible future to exist.
Mining industry^in Singhbhum especially belonging to the non-coal and
iron segments is characterized by the dominance of private entrepreneurs,
mostiyconsisting of Marwadis of fiajasthan and private mining has affec
ted adversely the levels of living of the tribal inhabitants of this
area m a number of ways.2
Py'St’ 3ea®°s are^generally granted by the state bureaucracy (consisting
nn m°muly
of north Bihar*'origin) which private contractors take
\.ey aav? beon carrying on mining operations in remote interior
villages and jungle areas where mineral deposits exit tl) without any
written consent of the tribal tenants who are legal“‘owners of these
dedared areas; and/or (iiz purposefully disregarding either the existence
^veyard (sarnaj here or whether the declared area has a
sacred place^of religious and cultural significance to the tribals or if
mining activity may create ecological problems in ’the area in a period
of time. Generally such ‘takeovers' degal and in many ins^ancesx‘illegal
by the private mining contractors go without adequate compensation to
the tribal owners of the declared areasd
Second, private mining contractor^ because of their economic power, not
merely employ Ihe tribals but also indulge in other activities -usually
exploitative in nature which have contributed to increasing prolitarianization (or pauperization; of the tribals in this area. The contractors
dispossess the tribals of their 'land by foroe-usually by destroying their
places of worship dr by harassing the small peasants*'in connivance with
the police force in this area;'furthermore, they do^'not pay tribal
labourers adequate wage corresponding to their work, nor provide them with
any benefits in either cash or kind for long years of hard labour; rathe^
labourers are paid wages usually much**lower than the statutory minimum
wages for work of‘long duration (often. 12 hours or more) - longer than
the^stipulated minimum ei&fit hours o^ work. In this situation tribal
women are particularly vulnerable since they are subjected no^ to
’ 11
economic exploitation but^’also suffer from sexual oxploitation-rape and
other types of molestation, illegal trafficking etc. by the private
contractors.
Finally,^at a higher level, many such private contractors So not remit
royalty commensurate with'the quantity of minerals^they generate from
their mining operations and bribe officials to transfer any officer who
interferes in their path of exploiting the tribal inhabitants in this
area.
Two other factors aiding the speedy pauperization of the tribals in this
area have been, on the one side, the role of government welfare agencies
and ill-conceived development programmes for the tribals and on the
other the persistently poor performance of agriculture generally and in
he last few years m particular. Despite the existence of tribal deve
lopment blocks, and^a variety of other development agencies for irrigat—ion and allied purposes, SFDA, and other programmes such as IRDP
TB.YSEM etc. the benefits of these have yei to reach tribals. This is
because:first, over eighty percent*‘of tribals still remain illiterate
and are ignorant of these development programmes; and second, the dismal
functioning of those agencies: in practice*•irrespective of the nah re
'<• '>,«* .X-..
41
8
Of the welfare programmes, such as employment generation scheme
etc. by and large non-tribals appear to bo
IRDP
drPnt0
agricultural development schemes, this area has
remained chronically backward agriculturally because•11 ) nnit/'a-cent of the toivablS land has assured irJigatZ J o
“ h -
mismanagement of scarce funds.5
corruption and
T° sum up, given ^he above situation, haphazard mining practices bv
private mining contractors, and idle miros
i-? +-,• L acT1^es by
kinds ha^e thrown sovefal thousands n? +X i
legation of varied'
s
“xs?
WAGE .PAYMENT III MIRES—THE MINIMJM WAGES ACT, 1948.
v^oSttSdXSe0:?:^^ Ze fW^Vd
fiSed
1948; Central Wage Boarcts; Bipartite negotiate ons1” coVZ™ WaSCS
between th^ employees and wo^kerS, etc! SZrl^s of wZ? a5^^ents
employed
ore, limestone and dolmni¥o
m-;
wages of1 workers
regulatedinbyiron
the recommendationsXf
the ^tr^X^TT*
'
industries. In several ohher mines lhe minimum wafe of Workers arHixed
and revised statutorily under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 X
J f
which the minimum rates of wages of worked a£e governed throttZhJthls
Act are mica, barges, bauzilo, gypsum, manganesirsZne, St
steatite (including soap stone and talij), ochre, asbestos, fg ’L
china clay, clay, white clay, copper and chrofiite mines. EmXmeS
m quartzite, quartz an! silica have also been’
+^*+-u
,
under the Act hut +ho
it
een added to the schedule
bt
/ \bu* the filial minimum wages in these mines have not vet
been fixed. In the remaining mining industries, the wagl rates Z Y
determined through other methods like collective agreements bX™
employers and workers, bipartite negotiations, etc!
between
PERIODIC REVISION
Statutory minimum rates of wages for daily labour were fixed under
uJkil“an& rF! f^’s^Se^woSe^^^gypX^bluSt^"?
StTX£^Jg“^h?”“ ‘5“’ “to
"d
h“T“ b:« S“t“«o
ive rateo including the basic rate, the cost of living niio
aj
Thus the first revision took place in 1976 when the minimum rates of
wages for unskilled labour was revise# to Rs 5.8oi4and thnt^n-r qHh /i
labour to Bo. 8.7„
aar...ot tll8
tino
chronitc, ooppor, mica, stone knynito, Sto&lite, ochre/‘asl?^tos and fire
clay mined were added to the list of mines under the Itinimu$Mages Act
1948.
'■
<<•
V
42
If must however bo mentioned that during '1977-79? a period of three,
years, minimum rat’bs of wages in non-coal mines were^never revised1*
The second revision of minimum rates"of wages was done in 1980 when,it
was"fixed at Rs .6<,65x’f or unskilled and Rs 0 1 0x,f ofskilled labour. Since
minimurn
then, revision of mini
mumx1’*wages
*wages havo^bocomo
havo^bocomc an annual affair. The ihird
(in 1981.) fourth (19^2) and fifth ( in 1933) revisions have fixed minimum
rates of wages"for unskilled labour at Rs*7*75? :Is .8.75 and .Rs . 9^ 75 (perday
respectively and that fo? skilled labour at Rs.11.75? RSe.13.50 and
Rs.15.00 (per day) respectively The fixing of minimum daily rates of wages in. various mines implies 'that
the daily wages for labour
.labour bo the same ancl allows little variation in the
weekly"’earnings of nine workers across mines. However? in ^racticer1'1
substantial differencials exist in the c?-v^rage weekly earnings of mine
workers across regienbx,’ occupations and sex as can be observed from the1’
aggregate statistics on employment and earnings in the non-coal mines in
Singhbhum.
It must also' be mentioned here that the available ‘figures or wages of
labour in non-coal mines relate to mines coming under the purview of Einos
Act, 1952^and submitting annual returns under Regulation 5 of the metallic
ferrous mines under Mnes Regulation Act, 1961 and suffer from two major
limitations; first, a number of
o¥ mines, both authorised and the unaufhori'l.
unauihori'l.
-sed ones
particular? r.oi only avoid"’payment of"the statutory minimum
rates of wages but a.lso do no v" submit annual re turns * juithermore, the
information supplied in tfie annual returns are usually fabricated byf the
mine owners as there are no checks oh the quality or the voracity1*of their
statements. Secondly^ from those mines which submit annual returns, the
data on production, number of workers, weoklyx’wages or-../'arc aggregated
for districts, states and minerals rather than pfesventing them region
wise by the office of the Dire ctor-'General of W.no-s Safety w
Given these
limitations, available information regarding weekly wages paid to labour
is of little use unfortunately for analytical purposeso
However, despite the above limitation"two major though aberrant findings
from the available published data stands apart, namely the existence of
(l) nine to nine differentials in the daily and hence weekly wages raid
to labour despite the Minimum Wages Act, 194'S? and (ii) j?ale-femalo wages
differentials, despite the Equal Remuneration Act 1976. It is the
purpose of thisx’paper cherfore toJ‘highlight the extenV’of differentials
in wages between"'the- statutory minimum rate of wages"and the actual -rages
paid to labour in the various miheb and search for"an exolanalien that
underlies payment"of low wages in non-coal mines in oinghbhum* We now
turn to our findings based on data collected from our survey,
WAGES AMD WORKING CONDITIONS 1«T.
NINES
The visit to1’Singhbhum district included survey of stone, limestone^ china
clay and iron ore mines in addition to a trip to Meghahatubuxu Iren Ore
Project site to review conditions of contract labourers employed in Jbis
project. At all those places, with limited time at hand., every attempt
was made to meet and talk to (l) worfeers/labourers regarding their
receipt of statutory minimum wa-os and other facilities"at"the mflo si.o
and (ii") nine supervisors, t' elicit further information on payment
wages and other benefits as available from their records, if they did
maintain these*
Some general trends were discernible regarding payment 0? wages to
workers, the keeping -ci proper nec-orls on this and relate A details
what is attempted here is jo ..ecus on those.
(a) Stone Niues
Wages"for laoeuier^ in sieve n? nee ci both Chaikas a and Ranchi ger. ore I. ;r
and dr those m.VLk :1U7<
d v'”1 j cu’’.arJ .x^’werc far lowc*- tv • •
43
Neither a?e records on payment of wages, musterroll, overtime redder
activi?v7/b
th°Se obabliShaen4eS dGspit0 the overtime
that register
Xing
activity has been going on for years in these areas
A Bara Lisa Stone Mme (owned by Ifanki Hasda) payment of wages is bv
P10bZ^i;e+b%0on
T: the volume of work Respective
irrespective of thg number of days x'
worked by . the
A team
team of
of two"workers
two-workers quarrying stone equivalent
x, labourers.
-----------A
to load a 3-ton
were paid anywhere between Rs.lJ to 20 per "
J ?.n truck
truck fully
fully were
load. Given that this work is usual, y completed by two labourers working
together for two days from 7 a,m4
12 p.m. and 2 pmm. 4p.m. the daily
average wage is around Rs .3.75-5,.
X5SXl/2°cu
Ranahi a tcam CM3i^ing of 4"'workors
quarrioa.
cu. f# and out of their wage Re 1 iq
-p-^
them of 2 workers who ^e employed to cafrv the ernJo
^°i?er
orasheh.
4 a±n’“ “O°
a.
.
-od 4-6 cratos of 121/2 m f+
>
4.^ usually a family, quarnaverage received R" 3 PS*4 fi7 °
Per c. ay working 10-12 hrs. and on tho
carrifd Se XLs Wo
7,
daib wa®Qd wh°^^ those workers who
peXn.
USher rGCelved
Rs-2 to 3 per day per
Mbst^of these workers"'in stone mine have boon
employed for over two years
and yet surprisingly none o£ them are
;
on the permanent rolls, ^tthe
attendance notebook maintained in those mines
vJ ar e generally manipulated to
show 50 per cenU (or '**'less of the total workers i
working in the mine site
and at timos^ contain fictitioui :
namesn Furthermore
--- j,t while a team of 4
workers worked together only onos is generally narked
--- 1 as present excluding
all others in the muster roll.
No drinking water is provided in these mines nor nro
x.
[ medical, etc. given as stipulated by law. Although Inr yo t h °r 2fashlris
are employed in these nines", no separate facilities 7+1 n^mber of wonen
ohx.cron bolrn the ago of 14 years are reported to be employed hero *dt
law wages•‘ ? nal?yZ al'thotlsh the work demanded removal of overburden
workers, are not being paid for this despite the fact that this Xk
includes even loading of trucks, bullock carf.otc, with mud.
Lbl.LitlQs.tPne and China Clay Mines
il
•‘■I
J.,
These nines are concentrated in the Kolhari region of Singhbhum District
and are in the private sector, tffie^ are notorious for their"’practices regarding non-payment of wages arid not"'providing basic working conJiSiohs
t1M ? the year -ithoat
days together due to rain of other such natural calamitiX
of minimum wages anc Vastly rlleg"al eviction of triXs fr07non-payment
S'
without adequate compensation being raid to them.
"
th ’ land
San Jhinirpani Limestone mine has been
over two years
more in Jhinkpani®. Althoust
"pLy"“E“ f" .
this period most of them have continued
wage accordingly♦ T“
.
the site-incharge claimed maintenance
— ---- .-.-j of these® Workers are not b^in^
given wage slips? "’a^lrfh0!
,f" arl”kl”S Sotor, lUTatorles ole.
available to them.
MAne‘'Bape?vl^ora ■that they are being^aid^.s^^Itrei3sV°G °f
“Val.;-“ble
“> i-XxU' to“e"“;
In Rungta China clay mine (OI White clay mine)
one of the oldest in this
region over 250 workers (majority females) /
were
working 1at
However/'1 only"a small pro-crtio'.
.rorv..rfound
n
’,: the site*
Permar-enc- orb' :
0. .. ' l,?r° Permanent.
.v^.vl.r,r "rru.
/' ■•1-7rs wore in b
°
44
and i*fc is not clear from when they wore made permanent for,
many workers
have been employed in the mine for over 20 years®
years
' fi?fhI
S or'Ionda (Owner: Satyendra Frasad)x*54 workers 14
(321 + 22mJ have been in employment for several years wd v<=¥ r. ™ ■;
caduals. ITo facility of-any kind exist for vlSers K the SL
/h
many workers, femalesx';in particular bnvo
11
?e S te and
workers together demanded navmort* of
n
assaulted when the
manager oAhis mine
K is ft lhA°7
‘ The f°raer
charges
filed by the fcorkets and has had to leave his^ob,
In Rajanka Limestone minerp Cf^aCr0IiS-1kaOf t0 :havo bought in "bonded
labourers” from^Kaimur
once
Iron Orc Miness at Megahatuburu
Iron Ore Project (jflOP) :
this project it «pjo«.d ti;int£T
„
^*<3“
tory minimum wages (after their
’ Sfike3n June-July, igg?), provided drink-ing_water facilities at dam/project
P''
nodical facilities at*'the SAIL
hospital, metal sheets ffor
for building shelters etc. and the payment of wafres
to workers are made in the presence of an ILIOP officer.
S
However, ?& vi.si't TO Kumidi dam si'te
and meeting workers revealed information
worthy of mention..
1. ^Even when there is^enougH work f
•-If .’ "This^day>,
and asked to leaVe at noon and not to roW
’S workers are laid off
. J.»
.4..
- -- — J-S
a general practice
among all sub-contractors J
‘
to maintain discontn.nuity
in the
-—) workers attendance m order not to pay them any benefits.
2. While workers are
are laid
laid off
off without
without prior notice at , noon,
after
having
worked lor 5 hours from 7 aim. to 12
•,
•
- ---half day, i.e. for 4 hrs. only.
’
a ° Pald Wage G^uival®nt to
While law claims that workers pros on •. -por 240 Hmro
for benefits^at l"ay-off or otherwise, fee cAf
ht/^
-u
this as 240 continuous days of attendance* nernrfli i a/e misinterpreted
workers of any possible^bonefits, their services nSly ln °rder to deprive
J times a year by occasional lay-offS ttKr
SeVeral
for days together but marked Acs ett « i \ AX
k
i<-11 v
4.n a wiiiio only.
4. While contractors claim that payment'i+1,
pal^employers nominee, there arc occasion1^whgn at^KumidAm^
been made prior io the arrival of such a nominee
paynents have
pointed out by workers.
' " " G* ^is has been singularly 5. Unequal payment of arrears
is made for equal duration of work among
workers. It is not clear oh what basis
J arrear payments have been made
6, It was pointed out by the offirpra n-P mto-d
□
of contractors (m/s Budhxnaia) that e* q n-r J. .ard ^11G 01
vniw..
a;-a„ .its
-s “hL:; t
supervisor of
harvests, etc. and return again for work"' m
the1^ village during
officials of MIOP further claimed that i’ the^ao^J1 h * new "ame< The
with the same name, the details"’of previous or,nt workers who return
clearly"*written in the"'employment card*. On the A’A at the dam Site are
surveying the employment cabd/attcnd-anco*'card'nt While act^aPy
were found excepting a recent date written despite "he f "•'+
de^ails
workers have worked theroVor years continfiotisly. Wo ffund"'St
a worker who had worked on two prior occasions with tn
d A f G °f a
currently working to have been paid arrears only for S3 curfA
alS°
period.
3 cuirent work
I
45
?•
attendance
a tXul^d wfrtafrs So^v^w
2kor
information of over
Vaiume 2 (or 3) gives
occasions for short Periods. Out of «Js c
-' Cd °n ^evious
only ir(sevente^J^ere found
in the current roll
The problem of workers changing their' r —
claimed thex‘ reason for this?
—• names was
’ But
tractor
change the hnames of worker in orde^to ? 'COnkary’ the
the
contractor
may also
!
oruer to manipulate breaks
•
tHaJ ejenttially the labourers
in their services
,,
— could oedqti 1 pd nf* .
Grlven that jmany Workers
any lay-off benefits.
have wofked there for ov§r - two
that only a recent date! is shown in the k- ,
two years and the fact
‘Wtoyment card_aeS^ite this
throws evidence on the
possibility
workers to suit them rather
than theof contractors changing names of
reverse.
8.
Ho free medical aid“is giver to <
of RsJoo^pX^n b^^lf^FJh^^
•
°fficia^ at Kiruburu, Although
C°12.^act
that intial deposit
workers to hospital there is°no Ust°?fOr
cont^°tors to
admit has
bGGn made’
11St °f W°rkers f°r whom this payment
9. .**
.. 'J___ sheets
_
If metal
have been supplied to workers
to when and how many each worker has boon given?
do »ot
™
* - '-i Pioper Joo,
“d. J»o«y this.
then
•
1S n° record as
”
”OTk“=
- --
oontwotoS. aot to
aM
.
,hall goJ““ X°Xay° “"‘“’tooiy to olai,
to the workers
- -. So despite in termitten
°n?y according-10 law"
-lem of some workers returning with new n‘dm?r?ftS
ardi‘the P^°b^
attempt
ar has been made for provision of id f-+UCh an absonce, no
contractors to
•o workers to overcome their Pd4S Sby ta°P or±’
with workers,■ -Rather, it suits them to
* difficulties in dealing
provision ot identity card to contract work?™
d°eS rot demand
this shall not be done.
orkors and hence although useful
tahgiblo-benefits-f^-SXdT^?1011 °f r ':
separate urinals or other
conveniently saying^JS^^S:
j this is put aside very '
etc/a? sXY the need
neCd for
f°r stories-?
Anu so is the case of creche
zrh-us:eto the f0^Styand
Our disousision <
lighted in brief
mineral wealth, the district ns n whni
^bunda-nco of forest and
poor adivasis. We found the reasons for1-, m?Stly Snhabitgd by extremely
have been the f
following : First, the ruthless
c°rJrasting situation
adxvasis by theJ forest official’ nns°?s. elicitation of the
mon, labour contractors and lastly, the foriW^ Contract°rs/’'the middledepartments;
—secondlv
secondly, fhe role of govo^nent
^rost
ill cx
’
'
,y
conceived development ‘programmes f^ th? tr?bX°
md their
persistently jpoor
----- performance of ogricultur? ™
lastly» the
few years in particular’
s culture generally and in the last
rt^facrjha^dtlp^e^'tS nbund^” t8?*0* Mgh ’
Our analysis ( ”
non-coal mines3 Lalthough kade^Se^ev^Vd the^^t^ W6rkers ln
°f
differentials -n
in ■the daily hence wee^ ^gSs paid^o
existence of statutory
- miniaun wGgOS for Xes?
lab0Ur dcSpite the
district to^colleJt^i^^^i^^^
?ine>
Singhbhufi
ions of mine workers therc revealed the fOSo2gSfC°ndithat minimum wa^es ^ro qtin
+ i
•
the statutory minimum, that too forPaid ar° low^ than
anywhere from W-12 hours.;
'
longor duration of work hours,
ii)
Shut i-
t
t
46
anu _re als
law; and
mJ
not given ary medical facilities as stipulated by
that as a practice several mines do not keep records regarding
number of workers, wage payment etc. as stipulated by law.
urthermore, among those minesx‘whb keep such records, they are"'
characterised by very poor maintenance due to every type of manipulation^ ihus, it was found for instance, the number ofworkors
m the registers were significantly less than the actual number
i,or ing j-n the mine site at the lime of our survey. Similarly,
the actual wage paid is less''than what has been'*recorded in the
register. Also, although many workers have been employed for many
Jrears, only few have been made as permanent workers. This1’is
especially true of large scale construction projects in mine site
where unauthorized sub-contracting takes placg at1’various levels
from principal employer to a sub
sub—
—contractor
contractor and
and in
in turn
turn to a
subsequent contractor and so on*
Althotigh,
havl highlighted certain detail- regarding1’the wages and
unaSwfredI’dltX°nS °f
WCrkerS’ a nUml3OT
questions still remain
to old labour In gonorfl a„a tlle
l^SJ
1
What is the role of the principal emnlpyor?
icuiar.
Second, giben the widespread occurrence of manipulation of records
illegal iay-offs and retrenchment, no proper payment of arrears, with
and without connivance of principal employers by contractors in tSebound projects where does labour law come to rescue labour's workingconditions? Are labour laws silent regarding the option +o h ntbo credibility of
?o ter’ Sa.”
Budhiraja, is operating udder anothei contractors' licence at MIOP).
FinT‘L2y’ the ®0_fQlled 'permanent
1' workers ^re
id. just
-iust the
'pornanenV
^rG still pa
aiu
statutory minimum wages andx’nothing, inore despite years and years of
work. Is there no provision in the labour laws'1’4to
’----- “J demand from es^ablish-monts ^that they pay Permanent workers
nore than the statutory minimuEi
depending on their years of service?
problems of mine woS 2d Se1suitaMSySo?1e1^st^Cla2
govern them towards and reformulation (aid them and at the same tine
make Them sucn that they are not misused).
gOURGE
K.V. ESWARA PRASAD,
NATIONAL LABOUR INSTITUTE, NEW DELHI.
WAGES AND WORKING CONDITIONS OF JUNE WORKERS IN
SJNBHBHUM DISTRICT, BIHAR
NATIONAL LABOUR INSTITUTE BULLETIN
Voli, X, No.3, July ~ September 1984.
PP. 121 to 127
For Private circulation only
on
SLAVE
LABOUR
35
Slave lalSour.-r , the most inhuman form of exploita
tion of man by man, lias been widely praciTined
all over the world, till the last century. Civi—
vilisations are known to have been builit on
slave labour.Capitalism in its crudest form
has used slave labour. The following text is
Reminder of. what man has done to man for the
sake of greed, not so long ago.
Tcwhrd the dnd of Augtist 1619, a Dutch-warship arrived at a port in
the Virginia Colony. Its only cargo was 20 Negroes which Governor Berkeley
acquired by trading food supplies. That was it. America was in the slave
business. TTohn Barbot a slave marchant of these early days, describes a
typical scone at a port city on tile West Coast of Africa where the slave
ships started out. AS'tnr the round-up, blacks were put in corrals on the
beach. They were then brought out naked into a large area where doctors
examined them, anti separated'’the healthy ones from the weak. Slave
dealers then began the bidding. When a black had been purchased, he
was immediately branded with a red-hot iron.
Each company had its ow branding spot, such as the chQ.st or the arm.
After a place on the‘skin was’ rubbed with grease and a piece of oil paper
put over it, the branding iron was pressed’ against the skin. The stein
swelled painfully and rg once the letters became visible, and remained so
forever. The trip across the Atlantic was a brutal experience. Slaves
were packed like coffins on shelves in the hole of the slave ships. The
shelves were often separated by no more than eighteen inches and it was
virtually impossible for the slaves to turn or siiift with any degree of case.
They lay during the six to ten weeks of the ocean voyage like living corpses.
When epidemics of' dysentery of smallpox sweptthrough the ship, the dead
bodies were thrown overboard. It was common for sharks to pick up a ship
off the coast of Africa and follow it all the way to America.
The slave trade flourished in colonial America, and hy the time of
the American Revolution there were half a million black men living in en
forced slavery in the colonies. Although the white colonists had won their
political independence from Englandp they very nearly did not agree to form
a union of statesl A major cause of discorS was the status of slaves.
Northern spokesmen saicl that, since Southerners regarded slaves as mere
property, they should not be included in the human count to determinere presentation in Congress. Ihe question was not whether blacks should vote
or hot-obviously they should not vote-but should they be counted as human
beings in the population statistics?
Southern delegates demanded' that Negroes bo counted equally with whites
so that the number of Southern* congressmen would be as great as possible.
However, Governor Morris of Pennsylvania said that his people would revolt
if slaves wore placed on an equal footing.with white men. After heated
debate, the delegates—white is the colour of delegates—reached a compromise.
The importation of slaves shall not be prohibited by Bongress prior to the
year 1808.In the’ years between the American Revolution and the Civil War, the
demand for cotton fibor -’.rcr wsod t ’nd t’ -'T t
blacks
♦
36
breeding become an approved method of inSeasi
after 1807’ slave
had certain male slaves solefor Seddi^
P?
SUPPly‘. SlaVG Swners
the black women to have children.''the moXeffoP2”ter^ ?aVe lnducements to
-4» when, the aether he! a eorthir nXl o?" hSF
’I?*- “f
len was the usual figure.
2s many
SsoXaferupJiXgsXdXnLiraci CXploitation frequently revolted,
virtually unsuccessful, beoaufe wSitc wTX
/CCUTOdm of tlieia ^ere
this system functioned properly, each st-J Ll° X ? P°Wer* T° insTlre that
keep slaves ignorant and in awe of Site
SlaV° Codes ^signed to
the state militia and the U.S. Army stood^eMnXth ?°4Ce: P°ysr °f tha states,
slave had to believe he was a slave so
bhG®° laws. In addition, the
helpless and absolutely dependent upon their whit^mastSs.^^
totally
S0URCE : S:t"eP,RentOn(Ed"tOr) ! Nation for
justice, Resource Manual . (Mimeo) pp. 112-114)
SLAVERY IN I NOT A
that salJL^hZs^been^ractised'hL^InJ WhtCh X'eniinf’.
us
practised f
fdoor KuthR^aJLldr2n
aNlir
abOSalve _
and10^”
of slave
labour
,
Salve
labour
Ve reproduce here
n fJ
G lab°ur in K^ala.
xe
a ± ew exc erp
err ts
ts .
’’Slavery in Kerala
India
j“divisibly interwoven with
slavery in
in ~~
Indra. ... Slavery had existed in iX
as elsewhere in the
Many a classical -o world from time immemorial
"ani “
pX”'
13
fences to slavery and serfdom,...The
ancient Ceylon contains reference
with’Nfe.
history of
slaves from thaN™^
of more
‘h‘e t
n of the "Kaveri-------by a Chola ruler.In ^ne-i 0^4PooraPattamam
ancient and Medieval KerAT’'"
“the slaves were_ valued differently in diffST
.
accordingthe model < ” tl'^sf'er-There were thrte^
known
modes to ofTransferrf
•-’
°-C transferri:
The first was the transfeFof "’jen^^”5101"
the slaves.
transfer
where the was
full the
value
was gi^n
of* "Jenmom
Sale
-- - value was given and the
^tirely transferred to a new master^XS
to
master*The
by ,rkanum" or mortgage a new
.The third way w-s
^/aS
.The
third
employing
slaves was by letting
letting them
them for"pZttom"
°r rent.A
loOl document
-j states
states that
that ” n vPartorr
with his
will sell from
Two or three children
i will add 100 ’Eanams’
A document forwarded
by the Collector <
of kalabar to
the President and members of
the
Board
of
Fort St. George, Madras on July
ev enu e,
20,1818 tcontain
answers
of the various tl^asildars of
’
regarding the price of slaves"in i5?nJKolabar district
t lie cl if f er Gn
taluks•
wife win
250 to
widely prevalent
SeTSte,"XOf
>^ry
a bond of
^S7PXbe£;te":"v«'*h
■■ —2 the life
by the conditions
—-> ox
of
ir, likewis e.
For Private Circulation
i
4
37
PEyELOPMENT OF CAPITALIST : AT WHAT COST?
Conditions of the Working Class at the early stage
of capitalism
* *-x-
»****-:<■**
The following text is taken from Marx’s Capital.
It vividly describes the cost payd by the working
class so that capitalism could develop.Even today,
in many places where Capitalism gx-ows the situation
is hardly difx erent fx'om that described by Marx
a hundred years ago.
Colonial system? public debts, heavy taxes, protection, commercial
wars, etc, these offshoots of the period of manufacture swell to gigantic
proportions during the period of infancy of largescalo industry. The”birth
of the latter is celebrated by a vast, Herod-like slaughter of the innocents.
Like the royal navy, the factories were recruited by means of the press—gang.
Though Sir F.M, Eden is indifferent to the horrors of the expropriation of
the agricultural population from the soil, from the last third of the
fifteenth century up to his own'*time; though he shows great self-satisfaction
in congratulating his country on this’ process, which was essential* in order
to establish capitalist agriculture and ’the due proportion between arable and
pasture land’; despite this?'he ’does not show the same economic insight into
the necessity of childstealing and child-slavery for the transformation of
manufacturing production into factory production and the establishment of the
true relation between capital and labour-power. He says: '^It may, perhaps be
worthy the attention of the public to consider, whether any manufacture,
in order to oe carried on successfully, requires that cottages and workhouses
should be ransacked for poor childrenthat they should be employed by turns
during ’the greater part of the night and robbed of that rest wliich, though
indispensable to all, is most required by tile young; and that numbers of
both sexes, of different agesand dispositions, should be collected together
in such a manner that the contagion of example cannotx‘but lead to profigacy
and debauchery; will add to the sum of individual or national felicity?
’In the counties of Derbj^shire, Nottinghamshire, and more particularly
in Lancashire,’ says Fielden? ’the newly-invented machinery was used in large
factories builton the sides of, streams capable of turning the water-wheel’.
Thousands of hand"wore suddenly required in these places, remote from towns;
and Lancashire, in particular, being, till then,4”comparatively thinly popu
lated and barren, a population was all that she now wanted• The small and
nimble fingers of little children being by very far the most in request,
the custom instantly sprang up of procuring apprentices( !x) from”the different
parish worhouso of London, Birmingham? and.1’elsewhere. Many, many thousands
of these little, hapless creatures wore sent down into the north, being from
tho age of 7 to the age of 13 or 14 years old. The custom was for the
master’ (i.c. the child-stealer) ’to clothe his apprentices and to feed and
lodge them in an “apprentice house” near the factory; overseers were appoin
ted to sec to the works? whose interest it was to work rhe children to tho
utmost, because their pay was in proportion to the quantity of work that
they could exact.
38
Cruelty was, of course, the consequence.
.In many of the manufacturing* dis^r*’
tricts, but particularly, I am afraid, in^thc fuilty county to which i Velong^
(Lancashire), cruelties the most heart-rending'were practised upon the unoffen4—
«ing and friendless creatures who were thus consigned to the charge of mastermanufacturors; they were harassed to the brink of death by excess of labour...
were flogged, fettered and tortured in the most exquisite refinement of cruelty;
•..they were in many cases starved to the bone while flogged to their work
and ....even in some instances... .were driven &o commit suicide'.... The beaufi-ful and romantic valleys of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lancashire, secluded
from the public eye, became the dismal solitudes of torture, anS of many a
murder. The profits of manufacturers were enormous; but this only whetted the
appetite that it shoulcl have satisfied, and therefore the manufacturers had
recourse to an expedient,that seemecl to secure to them those profits without
any possibility of limit*; they began the practice of what is termed "night•wwcrkiflg", tint is, having tired one set of hands,“by working them throughout
thc^day, they had‘another set ready to go on working throughout the night; the
day^sot .getting into the beds that the hight-sot had just Quitted, ail'd • in ^heir
turn again, tho night-sot getting into the beds that the day-set quitted'in
the morning. It is a common tradition in Lancashire, that the beds never go.
cold •
With the development of capitalist production during ine period of
manufacture, the public opinion of Europe lost its last remnant of shame and
conscience. The nations bragged cynically of every infamy that served them
as a means to the accumulation of capital Read, for example, the naive commer
cial annals of the worthy A.Anderson. *Here it is trumpeted forth as a triumph
of English statesmanshij: that,it the Peace of Utrecht, England extorted from
the Spaniards, by the Asiento Treaty, the privilege of being allowed to pl/
the slave traue, not only between Africa and the English West Indies, winch
i had done until then, but also between Africa Spanish America. England there
by acquired the right to supply Spanish America until 1743 with 4,800 ITegroes
a year. At the same time this threw an official cloak over British smuggling.
Liverpoor grew fat on the oasis of the slave trade. This was its method of
primitive accumulation. And even to tho present day, the Liverpool 'aualitv'
have remained the Pindars of the slave Irade, which -as noted in the work by
hav® jyst quoted- 'has coincided wifh that spirit of bold adventure
which has characterized the orade of Liverpool and repidly carried it ^o i^ts
present state of prosperity; has occasioned vast eriploynert for shipping and
sailors, and greatly augmented the demand for the manufactures of
—s of the country1.
In 1730 Loverpool employed 15 ships in the slave trade; in 1751
and in 1792, 1J2.
’j 53; in 1760,96;
co^con industry introduced child-slavery into England, in
the United States it gave the inpulse for the transformation of mercial exploi
tation. In fact the veileu slavery of the wage labourers in Europe needed the
unqualified slavery of the Hew World as its pedestal.
Tantae molis erat to unleash the ‘eternal natural laws' of'the capitalist
node of production, to complete the process of separation between the workers
and the conditions of their labour, to transform, ao one pole, the social
means of production and subsistence into capital, and at the opposite pole, the
mass of the population into wage-labourers, into’ tho free ’labouring poor’
that artifical product of neddrri history. If none^, according to Augier, ’
’comes into the world with a congenital blaod-stain on one cheek,’ capital
comes dripping from head to toe, from every pore, with blood and dirt.
SOURCE
: Karl Marx, Capital, Vol. I
(Penguin Books,
1979)
Private circulation only
'wHiisr ’• • '
Pp. 922 _ 926
/
20. See S ‘ Chakravarty ’’Reflections on the Growth Process .
Opus cit., page 127.
21. S Ghakravarty ’’Reflections.. . n
9
Opus cit., p. 128.
22, See Table 6 in the next section of this paper for
agricultural and industrial output growth rates.
23. This emphasis weakened in the years from 1966 to 1973.
Seo Nfidul Eapen ’Trends in Public Sector Saving and
Investment’ Opus cit., page 143.
24. Nitin Desai 1978, Opus cit. , page 13.
25. The ’household sector’ includes farm households engaged
in agricultural production 9 all unincorporated enter
prises engaged in industry trade, transport, and finance,
and households not directly inv Ived in production of
any kind.
‘
9
26. An alert aide, passed him a slip of paper, pointing out
the omission, following which the Prime Minister is
reported to have said ”a few words” about agriculture.
27. See Table 5 for an indication of its impact of plan
outlays in rea1 terms.
28. The government was forced to depend on massive imports
of foodgrains which rose to 10.34 million tonnes in 1966
(mainly from the United States), and also to devalue
the Rupee, under pressure from the same quarter.
29
Farm holdings remain fragm'nted in many parts of India,
land consolidation programmes were completed early only
in the states of Punjab and Haryana.
30. By K Sundaram and S D Tendulkar, published in the
Economic Times, New Delhi, 20 Sept. 1984, page 5.
31. Doc cit. page 8.
32. Contribution to Indian Economic Analysis. Loc.cit page 27.
PRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLY
Documentation Centre
Indian Social Institute,
Lodi Road,
New Delhi-110 003 •
* j ’’remunerative prices for
12. Machinery for actually fixing
agricultural products”, was not set up until the mid
sixties, when the foodgrains shortage threatened to
upset the well laid plans for industrial envelopment. 17
13. In an interview given to the Delhi Bureau Chief of Timex
magazine, Rajiv Gandhi is reported to have said, ’’The
public sector has spread into too many areas in which, I
feel, it should not beJ At the same time, ther^ are
certain areas where the private sector just cannot func
tion. They are just not capable, competent, or strategi
cally we do rot want them there. We will be developing
the public sector (to (undertake the jobs) that the
private sector cannot 'do. But we will be opening more
to the private sector so that they can expand and the
economy can grow freely” Quoted by Kewal Varma op.cit
page 10.
14. For a recent analysis see: Isher Judge Ahluwalia
’’Industrial Sta^natior) in India Since the mid-sixties it
- ICRIER Dec. 1983.
15. sD R Gadgil, for one, argued that the First Five Year Plan
was no plan at all. He said ”In the main, it is no more
than a compoilation o^ existing plans of public invest
ment ... put together |on the basis of no clearr criteria,
in the field of industry the ’plan \ presents just a.
resume of discussionsjwith private industrialists, in
other spheres it mostly indicates existing expenditure
objectives, and levels on the part of state.and Central
gov rnments,” page 20;, Planning and Economic Policy in
India, Orient Longman^, 1972.
16. The category ’’basic industries in the Indian ruse based”
classification includes mining, coal, fertilizers, heavy
inorganic and organic chemicals, cement, iron, and steel,
non-ferrous metals and electricity. ’’Capital goods
industries” cover hand tools, machine tools, specialized
equipment, farm machinery, heavy electrical equipment,
electric motors, cables and wires, rail road equipment
and heavy vehicles. The close correspondence between
the items in these two categories with the^industries.
of the 1956 Industrial
listed in the first two schedules
J-----”
,
There
are two other
Policy Resolution may,be noted,
classification.
They,
categories in the ’’use based” c
goods
which
'nclude cotton spinning.are ” intermediate
iA, L
12_L
z ” ” .11
zn
jute textiles, tyres and tubes synthetic^resins and
stuffs and so on ? and
plastics, man-made
' fibres,. dye
\
”consumer goods” which cover the usual items of durable
and inon-durable consumption.
17. For 0D assessment of these assumptions, see S Chakravarty
’’Reflections on the Growth Process in the Indian Economy
in (ed) C P Wadhwa Some Problems of India’s Economic^
Policy (2nd edition:)’, Tata McGraw Hill, New Delhi 197.,
especially pages 12,7-8.
' - ’’Contributions to Indian
18. J N Bhagwati and S Chakravartyin American Economic Review,
Economic Analysis: A Survey” i
Sept. 1969, page 7.
Volume LIX, No.4, fart 2, Supplement,
S
19. The two sectors were, the capital goods sector and the
consumption goods sector.
technical advice, organized marketing of their produce
and, where necessary, safeguards against intensive com
petition by large scale manufacture".
5.
Starting with Punjab, in 1954, sta^e governments have
increasingly come, under the effective control of the
"rural oligarchy" somn times in alliance with merchants1
(and userers1) capital. At first these groups operated
from within the broad qmbrace of the Congress Party,
but by the end of the i960’s; these classes began to
realize their separate;' identities in the shape of the
xxxxxf "regional" parties, led usually by landlords and
rich peasants with the support of traders, transporters,
contractors, and sometimes of small scale manufacturers.
The confrontation between these classes and the big
industrial and urban bourgeoisie has, in the past decade
or so, tended to take the form of strained Centre-State
relations, financially and otherwise, and the assertion
of ethnic, linguistic, religious and caste identities at
the state level.
6.
This is a subset of all public enterprises. It excludes
departmentslly managed undertakings and purely financial
and banking institutions. Subssequent figures cited
relate to the entire public sector.
7.
Para 6 of the 1956 Industrial Policy Resolution begins:
"The adoption of the socialist pattern of society as the
national objective, a^ well the need for planned and
rapid development, require that all industries of basic
and strategic importance or in the nature of public
utility services, should be in the public sector".
8.
Speech by Jawaharlal JJehru, recorded in Soastituent
Assembly of India (Legislative) Debates, Vol.34, Part III
(Proceedings other than Questions and Answers), Wed. 6th
April, 1949, D. 2385.
9.
These last .rra £wo voals are also stated in -unmistakable
terms in Congress party pronounaemtiats. The 1948
Report of the Economic Programmes Committee of the AICC
urges that the patt-.rn of foreign trade should be
examined "So as to make it possible for the nation to
provide its primary needs and thus buttress its
independent position". Further, "the place of foreign
capital should be carefully examined so as to ensure
that the economic controls remain with the nationals
of the country", see Section IV, paras 3 and 4, page
14, op.cit.
10. Source Lok Sabha Debates 1956 part 2, Vol,4, 30th April
11 . The 12 industries named were:
Other minerals, aluminium and other non-ferrous metals
not included in Schedule A, machine tools, ferro
alloys and tool steels, basic and intermediate products
required by chemicaA industries, antibiotics and
other essential drugs, fertilizers, synthetic rubber,
carbonisation of coal, chemical pulp, road transport,
and sea transport.
16
1956.
He will, therefore, be pulled back to a left-of-centre
position by the requirements of retaining political office
• 15
He cannot ’’forget” about agriculture, and he must take
a longer term view of the needs of the private corporate
sector itself. Indian industry not only cannot prosper
without rapid growth in agriculture, its future growth also
depends heavily on accelerated investment in infrastructure,
and other public sector industries.
Finally, let us be frank about, despite his "modern"
outlook, it is in his interests to retard the development
of class consciousness in both urban and rural areas. In
India, the easiest and most obvious way to do this,
especially in rural areas, is to reinforce and consolidate
pre-industrial era loyalities and identities. Let us hope
that he is too "modern” to resort to such tactics, either
intuitively or by design.
\fOT2S
1 .
Kewal Varma, ’Bonanza for Big Business’, Mainstream,
March 23, 1935. See especially pages 3 and 9.
2.
Prabhat Patnaik, ’Imperialism and the Growth of Indian
Capitalism’, in (ends) Boger Owen and Bob Sutcliffe
’Studies in the Theory bf Imperialism’, Longmans, 1972,
page 215. Patnaik also argues that state power in newly
independent India was based on a coalition between the
bourgeoisie and the class of landlords and rich peasants.
3.
For discussion of the early rise and growth of economic
nationalism in India, see ’The Rise and Growth of
Economic Nationalism in India’ by Bioin Chandra PPH
New Delhi 1966, which covers the period 1380 to 1905.
For the subsequent crystallization of the Congress Party’s
industrial policy with special reference to foreign capital,
see: Saumitra Chaudhury, ’Indian Bourgeoisie and Foreign
Capital, 1931-1961' in Social Scientist No. 132, May 1983.
4,
This latent conflict finds one of its early post-independence
expressions in the words of the resolution passed by the
All India Congress Committee on 17th November 1947? which
stated: "Our aim should be to evolve an economic structure
which will yield maximum production without the operation of
private monopolies ....” The demarcation of separate
spheres for large and small scale industry in paragraph 8
of the 1948 Industrial Policy Statement (see footnote 3),
indicates the lines along which a modus vivendi was subsequently
sought. It said: "Cottage and small scale industries •••
are particularly suited for the better utilization of
local resources and for the achievement of local selfsufficiency in respect of contain types of essential
consumer goods like food, cloth, and agricultural implements.”
’’The healthy expansion of cottage and small scale industry
depends upon a number of factors like the provision of raw
materials, cheap power,
A
TABLE 9
Percentage Shares of Male Cultivators, Male Agricultural
Labourers, and Total Male Agricultural Workers', in the
. 14 ’
Male Work Force
i
Year
Male Cultivators Male Agricultural Male Agricultural
Share Change in
Labourers
Workers
Share
Share Change in
Share Change in
Share
Share
1 961 59.97
13.73
64.7
+ 7.98
21 .71
1 971 45.73
67.44
+ 2.74
5.24
1 981 43.77
1.96
-1.94
19.77
63.54
- 3.9
Source : Population Census Documents
1. ” Male Agricultural workers” is the sum of male
cultivators plus agricultural labourers. The trend for
males only is given because conceptual changes from one
Census to the next hajze made it impossible to compare
the corresponding dat£ for females.
At the political level, at least until very recently, a
great deal of attention has been paid to rural areas but not (gjuite in a fashion which accords with the thesis
that state power in India is shared by partners in a
coalition, consisting of landlords and rich-peasants on
the one hand, and the urban and industrial bourgeoisie
on the other. Certrajl government programmes for rural
areas have .in fact emphasized ben fits to specified
constituents of the ’ipoor and weaker sections”, as
much as concessions tp the relatively rich. And
although the Central fcov^rnment has increasingly shifted
financial resources tp state governments, (which may
indeed be dominated by the ’’rurskl oligarchy”), at the
same time these governments often seem to be treated
as local sat. raps, strictly subordinate to the central
power, and exercising'authority only at its pleasure.
It is, in fact, not the landlords and rich peasants
who are the rural mainstay of the Congress Party at the
Centre, it is the most oppressed among the rural poor,
who are not yet in a position to become partners with
anybody.
Semi-feudal Polity
The behaviour of all these groups, including those at
the ’’receiving end” ojf assorted economic and other
benefits, does not suggest the kind of modern polity
in which well defined classes could be conceived of as
entering into ’’alliances” or ’’partnerships” with the.
urban and industrial bourgeoisie. It suggests a semifeudal polity orchestrated from above by a class which
knows very well what it wants, snd what it must do,
politically, to maintain itself in power.
In this context, it may be ventured that the new Prime
Ministers ’’unstructured lurch to the right” is likely
to be transitory. In India ’’big” business, and the
urban middle class combined,are numerically far too new
to supply the votes needed to keep a government in power.
1
I
i
?
I
This improvement in the economic structure of the countyy
was however scarcely ^tched, by a corresponding^proportinnpfp shift of working population out of agriculture.
?s only in the 1981 census, that the beginning of thss
Ihif? Say be in evidence. The relevant figures are given
in Tables 8 end 9.
*
13
TABLE 8
" sG
~ 52SS3. Domestic Product (et
Sectoral Composition ?f
constant 1970-71 1prices) (Percentage)
Year
Agricul
ture &
Allied
Sectors
58.9
1950-51
57.3
1955-56
54.2
1960-61
1965-66 -] 45.6
(1964-65)'(49.9)
49.2
1970-71
46.7
1975-76
41.5
1980-81
Minipg
Manulfa c- _
ture, and
Construc
tion:
14.9
15.9
11.7
2J.0
(20.0)
19.7
19-7
29.8
I
Services
Electricity
Gas, Water,
Supply, Transport,
Storage and
Communication
3.9
4.2
4.9
6.1
(5.4)
5.5
5.5
7.3
22.3
22.6
23.2
26.3
■ (24.5)
25.6
27.1
30.4
l
I
none correct picture of trends, since
1 . 1964-65 gives a.w
badly affected by drought in
agricultural output (Was
f
1965-^6,
A /-x < r"
’I
')
Pa^e 13, Sixth Five Year Plan 1980-85 an'
laSonal looounts sltlstioe 1970-71 to 1980-81
Jpefa. 1983) page 21
V
for later figures.
■nlonnexis dotendency
not seem
to ^culture
teave fully as
Srome th°
Slhinitll
to yet
treat
"bargain sector”. To this day, with respect to tne
^ricultur al sub-wdel” used in plan exercises, wexl
■ytormed persons assert, both that the model is totally
. nadequate and that
’------ the data fed into it in some cases
is patently absurd, i Two recent examples of this sort
thing may be cited.
20 on the Approach to the SeverS^h
In a recent commentary
Five Year Plan 1985-'90, it was pointed out that echeive ment of the target bf five percent rate of agricultural
growth for the' Seventh Plan period would require that
totally unrealistic targets for’ extending the net sown
nrA. be
he tuiiiiieu.
fulfilled. Theauthors
The authors say:
say: "Once we give up
pipe-dreams about /any massive aug
au, mentation o^ ne s™n
SS", (which would require "enormous capital outlays J
. i
!
I
1
■j
Shlty"51
gr?W f ^faditions^tc total irrigated area under
; the.
the ourpuu
output)"norm
wheat,
-iiuxin ” ufed
-vm into the model m one
hsve_
• ■ seventh Plan exercise
been 3,000 kgs pee _hectare -field
■‘C1J, in Punpeb. ♦
"test
in the
±iei_
test plot" conditions, and, -yield of wheat is
—v irrigated
In many
irrigated: parts of Inoic.
Indio ,
• ,
„+,-n-i below
Lin® 2,000
2.000 kgs
kers ner
hectare.
still
per hcct"r
Q
4
4
efrete^llpatete^^te^tetete^^s’n^esoJrteS^o^rto
P::
12
scarcely changed from 1956 to the present. Moreover, most
nf the increases in the level of investment came from the
^r“»lS«l sector Itself, ete not from the pohlio sector
tihectly. However, agricultural price policy, and the
subsidized prices of modern inputs, including el.ctrici y,
irrigation charges, farm credit, and chemical fer i
combined to redistribute the surplus availaole in xne
favour of agriculture, or at least to
economic system, inTax
policy, and a federal fiscal policy
a section of it.
r
enlarged
the share of a Central
which progressively
also tended to
KU
” te
tte. expense
sector
at the
expense of both the prlvete ate public
industrial sectors.
the share of manufacturing and
Notwithstanding all this total
investment in the economy
basic infrastructure in ’ ; share
of agriculture remained
continued to rise, and the
virtually
constant.
This
is
brought
out by^the fibres
■tri-r-Hml l V constant. This is
in Table 7. In ^rms of gross domestic^rocu^,^^
Soowe
or loss cortinoously from 1950 to the
present; while the stere of otter sectors rose.
TABLE 7
Percentage Share of Specified
Capital Formation ((at 1970-71 prices)
Sector
1. Agriculture
& allied
Sectors
1950-51 1955-56
in Gross Domestic
1960-61(1|64-65)1970-71 75-76 ?8-79
(17.8)
24.7
17.4
19.4 ■
19.0
15.5
21 .7
22.3
1.5
1 .1
(2.7)
1.3
4.2
3.2
0.7
0.8
5. Manufactur
ing,Electri
city Gas &
Water supply 15.4
30.5
35.3
(33.5)
36.6
.38.2
■36.3
24.7
4. Transport,
Communicat
ion & Trade
15.1
(18.7)
19.7
23.1
21.9
18.3
17.9
20.6
32.3
29.1
(27.3)
23.4
20.9
5. Others
29.2
19.0
39.7
2. Mining &
Quarrying
Capital
——c 18, page 161.
Source: Statistical Annexure
of the Working
andD Saving in
Formation
.0.1. - Feh.1982 . ’ of Planning
» G
(----Savings,
Ministry
Group on
What distinguished these favoured areas from other less
fortunate parts of India was, among other things: the
existence of an assured, controllable irrigation water
supply, greater than average farm size, and the requisite
degree of land consolidation. y To these districts were
channellized supplies of a package of "new technology"
inputs. The new, yield-increasing technology package
included high yielding varieties of seeds, chemical
fertilizers', and further investment in irrigation
facilities.
11
TABLE 6
Broad Sectoral Growth Rates: Agriculture & Industry,
and Levels of Irrigation and Fertilizer Consumption in
Agriculture for Specified Years
Compound Growth
Rates per year
Plan Period (%)
Specified
Year
Percent Fertilizer
Consumptinn
age of
(Kg/ha)
Gross
Irriga
ted area
to Gross
Sown area
Natl Agri; Incus
onal. cult', trial
Incoi ural, Produ
me (N Prod Ction
pi.
et l\n
N] uctij
atid on i
nal |
Prod<
i
uct)!
1951-56
1956=61
1961-66
1 966-69
1 969-74
3.6 ! 4.1
4.0 i 4.0 ! o . u
2.2 [-1.4 ‘ 9.0
4.0 i 6.2 2.0
3.3 2.9 !4.7
1950-51
1955-56
1960-61
1965-66
1973-74
17.1
17.4
18.3
19.9
0.5
0.9
1 .6
5.1
1951-56
3.6
4.1
i7.3
1956-61
1961-66
1966-69
1969-74
1974-79
4.0 4.0
2.2 i-1.4
4.0 ; 6.2
3.3 i 2.9
5.4 1 4.2
j6.6
1950-51
1955-56
1960t61
1965-66
1968-69
1973-74
1978-79
17.1
17.4
18.3
19.9
22.2
23.7
28.0
0.5
0.9
1.6
5.1
11.0
16.7
29.5
i 9.0
! 2.0
j 4.7
1 5.9
MARKETED SURPLUS INCREASE
The increase in the use of these new inputs is reflected
This
in the figures in the last two columns of Table
concentration of government support to a small number
of districts was inequitable, but the policy paid off,
in the sense that it achieved what it set out to do,
The so-called ’green revolution’, was not designed to
pull up backward agricultural regions, nor to.improve
the lot of the poor in rural areas. Indeed, it has
been pointed out that this successful programme to
relieve the foodgrains bottleneck had, as one of its
advantages, the political virtue of increasing marketed
surplus, without disturbing the existing rural power
structure much, at least in the early stages.
2.
1. It- should be noted that these figures understate the
true magnitude of outlays intended to benefit agriculture
10
The inclusion of investments in the production of.inputs
destined for use in agriculture, including electricity
generation and distribution, the production of fertilizers,
and diesel fuel would give a better picture. Unfortunately
time series data of this sort, based on input output tables
are not readily available.
Projections
i
Source: Table 1, p.5« T N Srinivasan "Was Agricul ■ •e
(mimeo) undated but, probably
pn
1982, citing Sata from the 1982, World Bank Reporb^n
Ind ia.
The fact that the saving rate in India is now exceptionally
high for a country with per capita incomes at current
levels, and that most !of
jof the increase in
i savings is
accountedh fn-r
for bv
by the household sector^
sector f reflects both
rising
levels
of
per
capita
income
rising levels of per Capita income generally and increasing
inter-regional, as we
well"as
income inequalities,
4 1 as inter-personal
- inter
X
diS
p
ari
ties
may
be
deplorable
e
disparities
may
be
deplohable m
in
While increasing incoi
tbev
might
in
practice
supply
not
only
the
principle,, Lmey
much
savings hut.
but also the
the^much^^^
source of growing hou ehold
industrial
output
(and
employment)
needed demand push to
~j section of the population
growth rates. Even i a large
remains stuck at, or elow, minimum subsistence income
levels, the existence) of a substantial set of people
middle in Dome group, whose incomes are
within the
ensures
a growing market for consumption goods,
rising,
consumer goods. inus,
and especially for ma nufactured
of
investments
in the capital
the relative importance
goods sectors is likely to change
goods and consumer
consumer^^ g latter. The immediate impact
further in favour first budget will be, almost certainly,
of Rajiv Gandhi’s
to reinforce this trend.
In India, it has been estimated that if the industrial
and service sectors combined grow at 'the^irat_®4_°f
*
a
growth
rate
in
seven per cent per year compouno,
fuodgrains output of about four per cent per Y'
(rising effective demand^
necessary to satisfy
theprelative
rates of growth of the
disproportions in
industrial
sectors
in the period of
agricultural and
the^firsUthree'pive'iYear Plans is obvious^frcrr. the ,
collapseperiod
of industrial
figures in Table 6.pls^holilay"
(1966-69) growth
______
rates during the ”
ultimately
traceable to the adverse
in large measure
-- ,
impstt of the foodgr|ins bottleneck which depressed
products originating in
the demand for imanufactured
--- - the public
sectors of the economy.27
both the private and
■ the
*■’ > industrial bourgeoisie at that time
Although
i
1
__________
-w*
nr'. “4”
’r“\ O. "K*
n
O fP “K7
*|
and
a;.
both with thl expa^ion of the industrial sector, the
vis-a-vis
of the ruling
response to this threat to the dominanceof c_technical
quantities
--class v/as remarkable. Vast
•• j/and financial resources ,
tUeor
country.
<
I
I
i
■ i
i
I
5
J_1--
9
few well chosen (.----------
i
of th.
I
•i
The impact of the initial strategy on the allocation of
plan resources to the agricultural sector, is brought out
in the first column of table 5. The absolute fall
(in constant prices) in plan outlays to ’’all sectors”,
following the mid-sixties crisis may be noted, together
with the marginal improvement in the share of plan
outlays going to the agricultural sector.
While subsequent plan models were much more spphisticated
the emphasis on heavy industry and import substitution not
only persisted, it even tended to increase again in the
decade starting from 1973-74 . There is also plenty of
very recent evidence that agriculture and small scale
private sector industry, (the old ’’consumption goods”
sectors), are still being treted as ’’bargain sectors”.
Finally, it also appears that despite the introduction
of an ’’agricultural sub-model” in the planning exercise,
there is something §ewiously wrong with either the model
itself, or the data fed into it.
(These questions will
be examined in the next section of this paper). Thus,
it is still the case that to some’extent the plan
strategy is not worked out to the same degree of detail
■'
for agriculture and■ the
small scale> consumption goods
large
scale industry.
sector generally, as:.it is
' for
~
'
What are the prospects for future allocations between
--- -- ?° Nit in
capital goods and consumption goods- sectors
major tasks
Desai
argues that in manufacturing the male;
of :import substitution have already been achieved. Even
•
’
.oo in the rate of growth of
allowing
for
an increase
i„.
the rates of growth in the chemical and
national income,
capital goods industries might decline from the eight
to ten percent rates observed in the first 25
^5 years of
_____ _ ________
;
’
1 to eight
‘J ‘
’ cent.
---planning
to around
six
per
cent. Moreover,
given~the shifts in the production^structure in
in the next section),
of the secondary sectors5 (discussed
('
and the very recent proportionate shift of workers out of
agriculture, where product per worker is roughly one
'
j, the prospects for
third of what it is in other
sectors
rising levelsi of domestic demand for consumer goods are
bright.
TABLE 5
Share of Agriculture in Plan Outlays for All Sectors
and Level of Total Plan Outlays (annual average for
periods in constant 1970-71)
Plan Period
i 9-51-56
1 956-6'1
1961-6b
1966-69
1969-74
1974-76
1979- 80
1980- 85^
Share of Agriculture
Irrigation & Flood
Control (%)
31.58
20.94
20.87
22.08
22.52
22.80
24.59
22.82
Plan outlay for all
sectors (Rs.
thousand crores)
9.05
18.43
26.54
25.77
28.28
43.82
54.93
55.00
9
J
20. See S ‘ Chakravarty ’’Reflections on the G-rowth Process .
Opus cit., page 127.
21. S Ghakravarty ’’Reflections...”, Opus cit., P-
n
1 28o
22, See Table 6 in the next section of this paper for
agricultural and industrial output growth rates.
23. This emphasis weakened in the years from 1966 to 1973.
See Mridul Eapen ’Trends in Public Sector Saving and
Investment’ Opus cit., page 143.
24. Nitin Desai 1978, Opus cit., page 13.
25. The ’household sector’ includes farm households engaged
in agricultural production, all unincorporated enter
prises engaged in industry, trade, transport, and finance,
and households not directly inv Ived in production of
any kind.
26. An alert aide, passed him a slip of paper, pointing out
the omission, following which the Prime Minister is
reported to have said ”a few words” about agriculture.
27. See Table 5 for an indication of its impact of plan
outlays in rea1 terms.
28. The government was forced to depend on massive imports
of foodgrains which rose to 10.34 million tonnes in 1966
(mainly from the United States), and also to devalue
the Rupee, under pressure from the same quarter.
29. Farm holdings remain fragmnted in many
parts of India 9
_
land consolidation programmes were completed early only
in the states of Punjab and Haryana.
30. By K Sundaram and S D Tendulkar, published in the
Economic Times, New Delhi, 20 Sept. 1984, page 5.
31 . Loc cit. page 8.
32. Contribution to Indian Economic Analysis. Loc.cit page 27.
PRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLY
documentation Centre
Indian Social Institute,
Lodi Road,
New Delhi-110 003 •
!
f
12. Machinery for actually fixing "remunerative prices for
agricultural products”, was not set up until the mid
sixties, when the foodgrains shortage threatened to
upset the well laid plans for industrial envelopment. 17
13- In an interview given to the Delhi Bureau Chief of Timex
magazine, Rajiv Gandhi is reported to have said, "The
public sector has spread into too many areas in which, I
feel, it should not be,' At the same time, ther^ are
certain areas where th0 private sector just cannot func
tion. They are just n'ot capable, competent, or strategi
cally we do rot want them there. We will be developing
the public sector (to (undertake the jobs) that the
private sector cannot 'do. But we will be opening more
to the private sector so that they can expand and the
economy can grow freely” Quoted by Kowal Varma op.cit
page 10.
j.
14. For a recent analysis see: Isher Judge Ahluwalia
"Industrial Stagnation in India Since the mid-sixties"
- ICRIER Dec. 1983.
1J.sD R G-adgil, for one, argued that the First Five Year Plan
was no plan at all. He said "In the main, it is no more
than a compoilation o^ existing plans of public invest
ment ... put together i'on the basis of no clearr criteria,
in the field of industry the 'plan* presents just a
resume of discussions with private industrialists, in
other spheres it mostly indicates existing expenditure
objectives , and levels on the part of state.and Central
gov rnments,” page 20,, Planning and Economic Policy in
India, Orient Longman^, 1972.
16. The categoryj "basic industries" in the Indian "use based"
classification includes mining, coal, fertilizers, heavy
inorganic and organic chemicals, cement, iron, and steel,
non-ferrous metals and electricity. "Capital goods
industries" cover hanq tools, machine tools, specialized
equipment, farm machinery, heavy electrical equipment,
electric motors, cables and wires., rail road equipment
and heavy vehicles. The close correspondence between
the items in these two categories with the industries
listed in the first tyo schedules of the 1956 Industrial
Policy Resolution may;be noted. There are two other
categories in the "usfe based" classification. They
are "intermediate goods" which include cotton spinning,
jute textiles, tyres and tubes synthetic resins and
plastics, man-made f ijbres, dye stuffs and so on, and
"consumer goods" whicih cover the usual items of durable
and non-durable corsuimption .
'•
,, see S Chakravarty
17. For 8n assessment of these assumptions
"Reflections on the.Growth Process in the Indian Economy”
in (ed) C D Wadhwa Some Problems of IndiaTs Economic
Policy (2nd edition,)', Tata McGraw Hill, New Delhi 1977,
especially pages 12.7-8.
to Indian,
18. J N Bhagwati and . S (Chakravartydin "Contributions
American
Economic
Review,
Economic Analysis: A Survey" i:
,
Sept.
1969,
page 7.
Volume LIX, No.4, Jart 2, Supplement
19. The two sectors were, the capital goods sector and the
consumption goods sector.
technical advice, organized marketing of their produce
and, where necessary, safeguards against intensive com
petition by large scale manufacture”.
5.
Starting with Punjab, in 1954, sta^e governments have
increasingly come under the effective control of the
’’rural oligarchy” soma times in alliance with merchants’
(and userers’) capital. At first these groups operated
from within the broad embrace of the Congress Party,
but by the end of the /l960’s; these classed began to
realize their separitei identities in the shape of the
xx&xxf ’’regional” parties, led usually by landlords and
rich peasants with the support of traders, transporters,
contractors, and sometimes of small scale manufacturers.
The confrontation between these classes and the big
industrial and urban bourgeoisie has, in the past decade
or so, tended to take the form of strained Centre-State
relations, financially and otherwise, and the assertion
of ethnic, linguistic, religious and caste identities at
the state level.
6.
This is a subset of all public enterprises. It excludes
departmentally managed undertakings and purely financial
and banking institutions. Subssequent figures cited
relate to the entire public sector.
7.
Para 6 of the 1956 Industrial Policy Resolution begins:
’’The adoption of the socialist pattern of society as the
national objective, a^ well the need for planned and
rapid development, require that all industries of basic
and strategic importance or in the nature of public
utility services, should be in the public sector”.
8.
Speech by Jawaharlal Kehru, recorded in Soastituent
Assembly of India (Legislative) Debates, Vol.34, Part III
6 th
(Proceedings other than Questions and Answers), Wed. 6th
April, 1949, D. 2385.
9.
Il
1_
. Jwoj y o^ls are also stated in unmistakable
These
last1
terms in Congress party pronounc-emthts. The 1948
Report of the Economic? Programmes Committee of the AICC
urges that the patt rn of foreign trade should be
examined ”So as to make it possible for the nation to
provide its primary needs and thus buttress its
independent position”. Further, ’’the place of foreign
capital should be carefully examined so as to ensure
that the economic controls remain with the nationals
of the country”, see Section IV, paras 3 and 4, page
14, op.cit.
'T'
10. Source Lok Sabha Debates 1956 part 2, Vol,4, 30th April
11 . The 12 industries named were:
Other minerals, aluminium and other non-ferrous metals
not included in Schedule A, machine tools, ferro
alloys and tool steels, basic and intermediate products
required by chemical industries, antibiotics and
fertilizers synthetic rubber,
other essential drugs, fertilizers,
pulp road transport,
carbonisation of coal, chemical pulp,
and sea transport.
16
1956.
He will, therefore, be pulled back to a left-of-centre
position by the requirements of retaining political office
• 15
He cannot ’’forget” about agriculture, and he must take
a longer term view of the needs of the private corporate
sector itself. Indian industry not only cannot prosper
without rapid growth in agriculture, its future growth also
depends heavily on accelerated investment in infrastructure,
and other public sector industries.
Finally, let us be frank about, despite his "modern”
outlook, it is in his interests to retard the development
of class consciousness in both urban and rural areas. In
India, the easiest and most obvious way to do this,
especially in rural areas, is to reinforce and consolidate
pre-industrial era loyalities and identities. Let us hope
that he is too ’’modern” to resort to such tactics, either
intuitively or by design.
'J0T2S
1 .
Kewal Varma, ’Bonanza for Big Business’, Mainstream,
March 23, 1935. See especially pages 3 and 9.
2.
Prabhat Patnaik, ’Imperialism and the Growth of Indian
Capitalism’, in (ends) Roger Owen and Bob Sutcliffe
’Studies in the Theory of Imperialism ’, Longmans, 1972,
page 215. Patnaik also argues that state power in newly
independent India was based on a coalition between the
bourgeoisie and the class of landlords and rich peasants.
3.
For discussion of the early rise and growth of economic
nationalism in India, see ’The Rise and Growth of
Economic Nationalism in India’ by Bioin Chandra PPH
New Delhi 1966, which covers the period 1380 to 1905.
For the subsequent crystallization of the Congress Party’s
industrial policy with special reference to foreign capital
see: Saumitra Chaudhury, ’Indian Bourgeoisie and Foreign
Capital, 1931-1961’ in Social Scientist No. 132, May 1983.
4,
This latent conflict finds one of its early post-independence
expressions in the words of the resolution passed by the
All India Congress Committee on 17th November 1947, which
stated: ”Our aim should be to evolve an economic structure
which will yield maximum production without the operation of
private monopolies ..The demarcation of separate
spheres for large and small scale industry in paragraph 8
of the 1948 Industrial Policy Statement (see footnote 3),
indicates the lines along which a modus vivendi was subsequently
sought. It said: ’’Cottage and small scale industries •••
are particularly suited for t he better utilization of
local resources and for the achievement of local selfsufficiency in respect of contain types of essential
consumer goods like food, cloth, and agricultural implements.”
’’The healthy expansion of cottage and small scale industry
depends upon a number of factors like the provision of raw
materials, cheap power,
■i
TABLE 9
Percentage Shares of Male Cultivators, Male Agricultural
Labourers, and Total Male Agricultural Workers7, in the
Male Work Eorce
.
14
’
Year
Male Cultivators Male Agricultural Male Agricultural
Share Change in
Labourers
Workers
Share
Share Change in
Share Change in
Share
Share
1961 50.97
13.73
64.7
1 971 45.73
21.71
+ 7.98
5.24
67.44
+ 2.74
1981 43.77
1.96
19.77
-1.94
63.54
- 3.9
I
Sovrce ; Population Census Documents
1. ” Male Agricultural workers” is the sum of male
cultivators plus agricultural labourers. The trend for
males only is given because conceptual changes from one
Census to the next ha|re made it impossible to compare
the corresponding datd for females.
At the political levej., at least until very recently, a
great deal of attention has been paid to rural areas
but not qjuite inj a fashion which accords with the thesis
that state power in India is shared by partners in a
coalition, consisting of landlords and rich-peasants on
the one handJ, and the urban and industrial bourgeoisie
on the other.. Central government programmes for rural
areas have in fact emphasized ben fits to specified
constituents of the ’^poor and weaker sections”, as
much as concessions tjo the relatively rich. And
although the Central kov'-'rnment has increasingly shifted
financial resources to state governments, (which may
indeed be dominated by the ”rurll oligarchy”), at the
same time these governments often seem to be treated
as local sat. raps, strictly subordinate to the central
pow.er, and exercising'authority only at its pleasure.
It is, in fact, not the landlords and rich peasants
who are the rural maipstay of the Congress Party at the
Centre, it is the most oppressed among the rural poor,
who are not yet in a position to become partners with
anybody.
Semi-feudal Polity
The behaviour of all these groups, including those at
the ’’receiving end” off assorted economic and other
benefits, does not suggest the kind of modern polity
in which well defined classes could be conceived of as
entering into ’’alliances” or ’’partnerships” with the.
urban and industrial bourgeoisie. It suggests a semifeudal polity orchestrated from above by a class which
knows very well what it wants, snd what it must do,
politically, to maintain itself in power.
In this context, it may be ventured that the new Prime
Ministers ’’unstructured lurch to the right” is likely
to be transitory. In India ”big” business, and the
urban middle class combined,are numerically far too new
to supply the votes needed to keep a government in power.
I
I
I
the economic structure of.the countyy
This improvement in
1, by a corresponding proper
was however scarcely
matcheo
of~working population out of agriculture.
tionate“onlv
shift
in c_
the 1981 -census, that the beginning of thss
It is only
*__ v m the y
.
relevant figures are given
shift may''he in evidence.
■'
in Tables 8 end
and 9.
♦
13
TABLE 8
Sectoral Composition '7'fxG5^s3 Domestic Piroduct (st
constant 1970-71 1prices) (Percentage)
Yesr
Agricul
ture &
Allied
Sectors
58.9
1950-51
57.3
1955-56
54.2
1960-61
1965-66_ 1, 45.6
(1964-65) (^9.9)
49.2
1970-71
46.7
1975-76
41.5
1980-81
I
•)
*'
Aw
■
14.9
15.9
0.7
2t.O
(2C>.0)
19-7
1-).7
20.8
Electricity
Services
Gas, Water,
Supply, Transport,
Storage and
Communication
3.9
4.2
4.9
6.1
(5.4)
5.5
5.5
7.3
I
22.3
22.6
23.2
26.3
■ (24.5)
25.6
27.1
30.4
correct picture of trendsj, since
1. 1964-65 gives a . sore badly affected by drought in
output was
agricultural
L
._
1965-66.
se-' ■Jource: Page 13, Sixth Five Year Plan 1980-85 an
S li? tistice 1970-71 to 1980-81
[petf 1983)CpSeb2i ,j for later figures.
f
nwpver
'■
Minipg
Mannlfac- _
tore, and
Construc
tion:
I
the nlonnehs do not deem yet to teve fully
^ricultur al sub-njodel" used in
m plan exercises, wexl
well
assert,
both that the model is totally
■formed persons l
._data
fed into it in some cases
nadeq.uate and that the (
& is patently absurd.! Two‘ recent examples of this sort
thing may be cited.
In a recent commentary 20 on the Approach to the Severi!|h
pointed out that echeive Five Year Plan 1985-;90, it was
percent
rate of agricultural
"Mt M’ the terxst ft n™
th8t
mert
t-rowth roT the Sevebth^lon per
tbe
sow„
totally p
The authors say: "Once we give up
------ beL~fuifilioc. T-^ surn a m^t3tion of net sown
area
pipe-dreams about anj
capital outlays")
„31
area", (which woup ^e<1f^n-rufture"lose their credibility
’’the . growth targets.► f”
nC+otaieirrigated arealnder
Similarly, for
)e0 ?So S Siel it one
wheat, the output, norm
ise< is s?id to
have
preliminary Seventh Plan v ■ 1
- reach3fi only under
been 3,000 kgs pee hectare ield , in PunpEb. •
"test plot" conditions, -n->
th yield of wheat is
In many irrigated parts of Indio, rne yi
still below 2,000 kgs per hectare <
r
i
'i
. 3
!
y
i
A peculiar feature of this strategy was that it did not
affect significantly the share of plan resources going to
12
agricSltural sector itself, and not from the public sector
ritectly. However, agricultural price policy, and the
subsidized prices of modern inputs, including electricity,
irrigation charges, farm credit, and chemical fertilizers,
combined to redistribute the
to
economic system, in favour of agriculture, or at 1east t
a section
section of
of it.
it. Tax policy, and a .ederal fiscal poll y
which, progressively enlarged the share of a Central
uiccs transferred to state
Government budgetary resources
^d
governments, also tended to
-- benefit the agricultural
sector at the expense of
of both
--- the private and public
industrial sectors.
Notwithstanding all this the share of manufacturing and
basic infrastructure in total investment in the economy
u uhe share of agriculture remained
continued to rise, and^the
out by the figures
virtually constant. This is brought
~
domestic
the"eh?(e
ofSeBrl
”SltSeproduct
I’S
etiowl
sharec8'of
agriculture
i- “
--t
Xo«e
X or less continuously fr»m 1950 to the
income
.
of other sectors rose.
present, while the share
TABLE 7
Percentage Share of Specified Sectors in Gross Domestic
1970-71 prices)
Capital Formation (at
I.
1965-66
75-76 38-79
1955-56
1960-61(1964-65)1970-71
1950-51
Sector
1. Agriculture
& allied
Sectors
2. Mining &
Quarrying
(17.8)
22.5
24.7
17.4
19.4 ■
19.0
15.5
21.7
0.8
■1.5
1 .1
(2.7)
1 .5
4.2
5-2
0.7
3. Manufactur
ing,Electri
city Gas &
Water supply 15.4
24.7
50.5
55.5
(55.5)
56.6
38.2
'56.5
4.■Traasport,
Communicat
ion & Trade
18.5
19.7
17-9
52.5
25.4
20.9
5. Others
29.2
19.0
59.7
15.1
(18.7)
29.1
(27.5)
25.1
21.9
20.6
Capital
i3, page
pegs 161. Capital
Source: Statistical Annexure 18
•
Report
of
the
Saving 1» main: Report. « ™ Working
Formation.
of Planning,. G.0.1.
J
Group on Savings, Ministry
■_
What distinguished these favoured areas from other less
fortunate parts of India was, among other things: the
existence of an assured, controllable irrigation water
supply9 greater than average farm size, and the requisite
degree of land consolidation.
To these districts were
channellized supplies of a package of ’’new technology”
inputs. The new, yield-increasing technology package
included high yielding varieties of seeds, chemical
fertilizers', and further investment in irrigation
facilities.
11
TABLE 6
Broad Sectoral Growth Rates: Agriculture & Industry,
and Levels of Irrigation and fertilizer Consumption in
Agriculture for Specified Years
Plan Period
Compound Growth
Rates per year
Specified
Year
Percent Fertilizer
Consumption
age of
(Kg/ha)
Gross
Irriga
ted area
to Gross
S own a rea
1950-51
1955-56
17.1
17.4
18.3
19.9
0.5
0.9
1 .6
5.1
17.1
17.4
18.3
19.9
22.2
23.7
28.0
0.5
0.9
1 .6
5.1
11.0
16.7
29.5
(%)
1951-56
1956“61
1961-66
1966-69
1969-74
Natl Agri;Indus
onali cult’ trial
Incoi ural, Produ
me(N Prod!Ction
et N uctij
atiol on i
!
nal j
Prodj
i
uct )|
3.6 | 4.1 'i 7.3
4.0 | 4.0 ! 6.6
2.2 1-1.4 ? 9.0
4.0 6.2 j 2.0
3.3 2.9 I 4.7
1951-56
3.6
1956-61
1961-66
1966-69
1969-74
1974-79
4.0 4.0 I6.6
! 9.0
2.2
4.0 I 6.2 I2.0
4.1 j7.5
3.3 i 2.9 |4.7
5.4 * 4.2 ?5.9
1960-61
1965-66
1973-74
1950-51
1955-56
1960t61
1965-66
1968-69
1973-74
1978-79
MARKETED SURPLUS INCREASE
The increase in the use of these new inputs is reflected
in the figures in the last two columns of Table 6. This
concentration of government support to a small number
of districts was inequitable, but the policy paid off,
in the sense that it achieved what it set out to do,
The so-called ’green revolution’, was not designed to
pull up backward agricultural regions, nor to improve
the lot of the poor in rural areas. Indeed, it has
been pointed out that this successful programme to
relieve the foodgrains bottleneck had, as one of its
advantages, the political virtue of increasing marketed
surplus, without disturbing the existing rural power
structure much, at least in the early stages.
2.
1. It- should be noted that these figures understate the
true magnitude of outlays intended to benefit agriculture
10
The inclusion of investments in the production of inputs
destined for use in agriculture, including electricity
generation and distribution, the production of fertilizers,
and diesel fuel would give a better picture. Unfortunately
time series data of this sort, based on input output tables
are not readily available.
Projections
Source: Table 1, p.5. T N Srinivasan ’’Was Agricul /• '6
undated but probably
Neglected-, in Planning”"f (mimeo)
(
1 982, World Bank Reporter
1982, citing data froiri the 1982
Ind ia.
The fact that the saving rate in India is now exceptionally
with per capita incomes at current
high for a country
<
levels, and that most [of the increase in savings is
accounted for by the household sector , reflects both
* Capita income generally ard increasing
rising levels of per
regional, as Well as inter-personal income ineciualitaes.
inter-regional
While increasing incone disparities may be deplofable m
they’might in practice supply not only the
principle
9
\
'
-i
-i .1 savings Tx
-i -i 4- also
T o r\ the
4-ki
rrm
oh
Sehold
but
much
of o
growing
houEjt
source cl
__ ._
.’ 1 output
•
(and
employment)
needed demand push to|inoustrial
in
i ,
nF o -lc*T'»rr£>
P!
section of the population
Even
i a large
growth
rates.
below,
minimum
subsistence income
remains stuck at, or
substantial
set of people
of
a
levels, the existence,
group,
whose
incomes are
within the middle inbome market for consumption
goods,
rxtixij^o- ensures a growing ----rising
,
and especially for msfaufactured consumer S0°ds- Thus,
of investments
in the capital
-t-.-hp
the relative imnortance
imports: oe oi
ods sectors is likely to change
goods and consumer g .ulxv
further in favour of !(the^ latter. The immediate impact
budget will be, almost certainly,
of Rajiv Gandhi’s :firpt
-to reinforce this trend.
In
it has
has been
been estimated that if the industrial
lu India,
Ind ia it
and service sectors combined grow at
a the rate of about
seven per cent per year compound, a growth rate in
foodgrains output of about four P®^ cent per year is
necessary to satisfy rising effective demano. The
disproportions in the relative rates of growth.of the
agricultural and industrial sectors in.the period of
the first three Five (Year Plans is obvious from the
figures in Table 6. The collapse of industria grow
rates during the "pldn holiday” period (1966-69) was
.
„
,,1+^ma+plv
traceable
to
the
adverse
gJMSof"tte"food^lnseSttleMOk, which depressed
impatt
of' the manufactured products originating m
P
2?
the demand for
the
public
sectors
of
the
economy.
both the private and
■ the> industrial bourgeoisie at that time
Although
ppeared
to be losing
.^ts grip
®°0"°^°nPe”^and
9’rr-x., .uo -the goal of ''seli-reiaance
both with respect
i
i
5
t
>
i
■ 1
i
1
)
a K.js:Od"i
this threat to the -------rni
*
•
of technical
class was remarkable.
Vast quantities
' 1 * 5/and financial resources
Of the
few well chosen c-----
country.
J
The impact of the initial strategy on the allocation of
elan resources to the agricultural sector, is brought out
in the first column of table 5. The absolute fall
(in constant prices) in plan outlays to "all sectors",
following the mid-sixties crisis may be noted, together
with the marginal improvement in the share of plan
outlays going to the agricultural sector.
9
. 1 j were much more spphisticated
While subsequent plan models
the emphasis on heavy industry and import substitution not
only persisted , it even tended to increase again in the
There is also plenty of
decade starting from 1973-74
very recent evidence that agriculture and small scale
private sector industry, (the old "consumption goods"
sectors), are still being treted as "bargain sectors".
Finally, it also appears that despite the introduction
of an "agricultural sub-model" in the planning exercise,
there is something ^ewiously wrong with either the model
itself, or the data fed into it.
(These questions will
be examined in the next section of this paper). Thus,
it is still the case that to some’extont the plan
strategy is not worked out to the same degree of detail
for agriculture and the small scale consumption goods
sector generally, as it is for large scale industry.
What are the prospects for future allocations between
capital goods and consumption goods sectors.? Nitin
Desai‘S argues that in manufacturing the major tasks
of import substitution have already been achieved. Even
allowing for an increase in the rate of growth
national income, the rates of growth in the chemical an
capital goods industries might decline from the eight
to ten percent rates observed in the first 25 years of
planning to around six to eight per cent. Moreover,
given the shifts in the production structure in favour
of the secondary sectors (discussed in the next section;,
and the very recent proportionate shift of workers out of
agriculture, where product per worker is roughly 9r!e
third of what it is in other sectors, the prospects tor
rising levels of domestic demand for consumer goods are
bright.
TABLE 5
Share of Agriculture in Plan Outlays for All Sectors
oxri
of Total plan Outlays (annual average for
and Level
;
periods in constant 1970-71)
Plan Period
1951-56
1 956-6''
1961-66
1966-69
1969-74
1974-76
1979- 80
1980- 85^
Share of Agriculture
Irrigation & Flood
Control (%)
31 .38
20.94
20.87
22.08
22.52
22.80
24.39
22.82
Plan outlay for all
sectors (Rs.
thousand crores)
9.05
18.43
26.54
25.77
28. 28
43-82
54.93
55.00
u 1-tfB
THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF INDIA'S
PLANNED INVESTMENT STRATEGY
However diverse the class base of the
freedom movement might have been, the
fact is that it entrusted its national
economic planning to the urban and in
dustrial bourgeoisie from the very
beginning. Moreover, from the start
of real planning in 19%, investment
in industry and in its supporting
infrastructure has constituted the
core ef plan exercises. Agriculture,
in the context of the plan strategy,
has been treated at best, as a key
component in this supporting infra
structure. In shert, the main thrust
and structure of India's planned invest
ment strategy is, on the face *f it,
not quite consistent with the widely
accepted preposition that, in independ
ent India, state power is based on a
coalition between the industrial and
urban bourgeoisie on the one hand, and
a class of landlerds and rich peasants
on the other. While it may be conceded
that the urban-based bourgeoisie shares
power with this group in whatever econ
omic and financial planning goes on in
dependently at the state level, this is
hardly the case at the national level,
where the Five Year Plans are made. At
the centre, the evidence that the indus
trial bourgeoisie has effectively domin
ated economic policy generally, and
planned investment strategy in perljcular,
from 1947 t« the present, is especially
clear. In subsequent sections of this
paper, it is proposed to docTr-u^4" some
of this evidence.
Quite apart from independent India's
investment strategy, however, both the
behav.ieur of India's ruJers towards the
rural nv« J • ••» 11 y, and the paliticalievp^
I o it <>1:•■»! run ■ = “'
tv
I
1
2
1
the rural aggregate, should call into
auestion the validity of the "alliance"
argument.
I
As a starting point for an appropriate paradigm, therefore,
I would like to suggest that India's polity is still gov
erned through a network of personal loyalties, reinforced
or consolidated from time to time by the dispensation of
patronage, "concessions", "benefits", or "protection", to
a diverse set of overlapping social, political and economic
groupings, largely self-defined in terms of caste, ethnic,
regional, linguistic and religious identities. Only the
urban and industrial bourgeoisie, and a small section of
the urban and rural working class, have, in practice, risen
above these pre-industrial loyalties.
The ruling class has done a remarkable gob in grafting on
to this.underlying semi-feudal polity, the apparatus of
capitalist industry, advanced technologies, and represent
ative government. But when the support base for the ruling
party is threatened, as by the rising consciousness of the
rich peasants as a class, it manages the political chall
enge partly by the dispensation of patronage, and partly
by actions and appeals which tend to reinforce and consol
idate pre-capitalist loyalties and .identities. Thus it is
premature to jalk of coalitions of classes, because as yet
neither the governors nor the governed typically behave as
if they see the political process in these terms. Doubt
less the pre-capitalist groupings will disintegrate in time
under the impact of economic development, but perhaps by
then the industrial and urban bourgeoisie may be close to
becoming the majority in the Indian polity.
¥
ONE CLASS RULE
While this constitutes only an identification of sOiW^of*' ■
the evidence which I think political scientists and sociol
ogists should explore, it will be argued further in this
paper that the main thrust of independent India's economic
policy is consistent -rly with the proposition that the
state in India in 1947 passed Into the hands of one class,
the Indian bourgeoisie, and not ’ into the hands of some sort
of coalition ^f classes. This dominant class today includes
at least two identifiable sections, in Prabhat Patnaik's
words "The monopoly bourgeoisie whose members control
business empires spread across a number of spheres and a
V
number of states”, and the small urban bourgeoisie
consisting of businessmen confined to single industries
or states, and prof
professional groups who are not direct
exploiters
but (.(are) integratted into the system of
exploitation J_ike lawyers, managers, and sections of the
bureaucracy.
This view, together with the contention
that the principal contradiction then was that between
private Indian commercial and industrial capital and
foreign capital (at that time mainly British capital, is
amply borne out by the emphasis in the economic policy
formulations of both the Congrress party and the new
government in the years immediately following 1947 , to
which we shall turn shortly.
While the relations between the two sections of the
4
Indian bourgeoisie have been uneasy from the beginning
they have jointly managed to retain control over natiional
economic decision making on the who^e, and over investment
allocation in particular, though constrained at times by
political challenges from the so-called ’’rural Mernarchy".
At the same time, while the concessions made to This „
latter class have been by and large political and at the
state level, the magnitude of investment, if not its
sectoral allocation, has been adversely affected,
especially in the recent years, by the increasing scale
of central gove nment transfers to state governments
generally and directly or indirectly, by the pursuit
of policies whose
effect is to shift resources in
favour of the agricultural sector and to enhance this
sectors 1 capacity for private capital accumulation.'
G-iven the magnitude and trends of the figures presentedd
in tables 1 and 2, and taking at face value references
to ’’socialism" which appear in economic and industrial
policy resoibilitions' , it is not surprising that some
scholars mistakenly concluded that India had embarked
on some sort of non-capitalist path. The reality; was
quite otherwise.
It was- the industrial and urban bourgeoisie which took
over the reins of effective political power in 1947,
and it was in their interests that the government
shouldered the responsibility for the development of
capital intensive, high technology, high risk, long
gestation period, large scale infrastructure and
industrial ventures in the public sector, while adopting
at the same time a host of other measures to facilitate
private investment in the rest of industry, construction
and trade.
This approach provided a solution to the two main
problems facing India’s new ruling class. The underlying
problem was that the indigenous capitalist class was
ill equipped to make those investments which were
essential to provide a strong base for massive
industrialization, but were not likely to be profitable,
particularly in the short run.
4
J
•
They lacked technical know how, experience
experience, and above all, 4
access to funds. A second and no less important problem as how
to resolve the long-standing contradiction between foreign
capital and the domestic industrial capitalist class. To
achieve "self reliance” India had to end its dependence on
imported manufactured goods generally, and especially on
imported capital goods, which wore going to be needed in
much larger quantities to supply the requirements of
accelerated industrialidevelopment. The Bombay Plan,
conceived in 1944, by b private group of big industrialist
headed by J.R.D. Tata land G.D. Birla , clearly showed their
appreciation of these realities. The operational clauses
in subsequent official
officia statements'worked out the details
in politically acceptable terms. The solution was to use
the'state as the longer and stronger arm of the industrial
bourgeoisie.
f
TABLE 1
I
Trends in Gross ;Domestic Capital Formation in India :
80
1950-51 to 1979-80
(as percent of Gross Domestic Product at Current Market
1
Prices)
G 1 C ? by sector
Household
Total
Year .
Private Corporate
GDCF
sector
sector
sector
■
n
.-X-
1950-512
^955-56
1960-61
1965- 66
1966- 67
1967- 68
1968- 69
1969- 70
1974-75
1979-80
1.
2.
2. 7
4,9
11.8
13.8
17.2
18.3
19.2
17.6
16.6
17.6
20.8
23.0
71u
9. 2
7. 7
7.2
6. 5
6. 1
8X
10 8
2.2
2.1
3.6
2.9
2.2
2.5
2.3
1.8
6.9
6.9
6.0
3-9
2.5
8.9
9.6
■
6.3
9.2
7.9
7.9
9.6
Includes frrm households engaged in agricultural
production, all inincorporated enterprises engaged
c, and
in industry, trade, transport,
a— finance,
—private
.
end
households
not
directly
"charitable" trusts and
involved in production of any kind.
■The 195O'sj fi
fi. uifes
uJes presented here are conceptually
comparable
to
later Y
yearrs.
omparable to'-those
triose > for
for later
e^®- It may b
noted, howev-T; that much lower figures, based on
—comparable
estimates
are often
conceptually npn-- ,
.
.
~
,
cited for the parly nineteen-fiities . There are
three sources for the
‘— conceptual differences :
' ‘i
i
I
!
This context ws set cut towards the beginning of the
document as the objectives of increased production, escape
from past and prospective domination by foreign capital,
and the desire to place the ’’ownership and effective
control” of industrial undertakings securely in Indian
hands.
6
CATEGORISATION OF INDUSTRIES
These trends culminated' in the 1956
Industrial
Policy Resolution
”’
wh^ch
was passed just before the
Second Five Year Plan ^as placed before the country. The
resolution defined thrie sets of industries. All new units
in the first category tyere to be set up only by the state,
unless their establishment in the private sector had
already been approved.\ The future development of the
following seventeen industries was thus reserved for the
public sector: arms and ammunition, atomic energy, iron
and steel, heavy castings, heavy machinery, heavy electrical
industries., coal, oil, iron and. other important mining
industries such as copier, lead, and zinc, aircraft, air
transport shipbuilding, telephone,
transport, railway transport,
telegraph and radio equipment (excluding radio receiving
sets), generation and distribution of electricity. A
second category included twelve more industries, most of
them producing basic and intermediate products to be used
as inputs by other industries, or transport services. ‘
While private enterprise, was to be permitted to set up
units m these fieldsincreasingly the state would take
the responsibility of starting new units in them. For
all the remaining industries, it would be ’’the policy of
the state to facilitate and encourage the development of
these industries in tip private sector.”
Thus it was that in a regime of heavy protection against
imported goods, and re ^ulations which effectively
discouraged direct private foreign investment in India,
the state set about fostering special institutions for
providing financial aiil to private industrialists so as to
enable them to take advantage of the opportunities opened
up by the elimination )f competition with foreign capital.
The ppublic sector provided a wide range of low cost
inputs and infrastructure services, and became a major
source of demand for tie output of private sector
products and services es well. The growth of the public
sector also provided expanding; employment opportunities
to a whole generation of bureucrats, managers, and
techniccal and scientific workers, and to a much lesser
degree, to direct prodluction workers as well.
More will be said about the pattern of Central Government
resource allocation as between agriculture and industry
in a subsequent section. However, table 3 brings out
the heavy concentration of .public sector investment in
mining, manufacturing and economic infrastructure. The
point to be noted at; this stage is, that independent
India’j? economic policy was in effect a
policy for developing independent capitalist industry.
The import substituting industrialization drive, made
it possible for some' years for the industrial sector to
grow much more rapidly than the rate of growth of domestic
demand for manufactured products.
•I '
l
*
(i) the early figures were estimated of net, rather than
gross investment, (ii) they excluded investment in
5
inventories, and (iii) they did not count non-monetized
capital formation in the rural sector. In particular
the figure of a five percent net investment rate published
in the First Five Year Plan2 (for the year 1950-51), has
sometimes led to the wrong impression that the increase
in investment rates over three decades of planning has
been much greater than is in fact the case.
Source: Tables 4, 5 and 5.1, pages 17 and 24 Capital
Formation and Saving in India: 1950-51 to 1979-80.
Report of the Working Group on Savings, Ministry of
Planning, G.O.I, February 1982.
TABLE 2
Share of the Public Sector in Total, G-ross and Net
domestic Capital Formation
Percent Share of the Public Sector in
Period
Total G-BCF
Total Net DCF
1950-51 to 1954-55
1955-56 to 1959-60
196p-61 to 1964-65
1965-66 to 1969-70
1970-71 to 1974-75
1975-76 to 1978-79
50.58
42.67
52.94
66.40
59.49
47.00
54.48
Note:
Source:
40.58
' 45.97
. 41.00
59.85
44.78
Public sector shares in NDCF are higher than in
GBCF because depreciation accounts for a smaller
the public sector than in
share of G-DCF in '
the private sector, Part of this is due to the
larger initial stock of capital in the privet e
sector, partly it is due to the fact that public
sector capital on the average, has a longer
life- span.
Mridul Eapep ’’Trends in Public Sector Saving.
and Investment ” in Journal of Income and Wealth 9
Vol. 5, No.2, July 1981 , (Table 1 page 144)
What Nehru describedi as ’’the past association of foreigh
capital and control with foreign domination of the
economy of the country” , gave ’’self-reliance” Bits
broad-based political appeal. But the essential
pragmatism of the new government’s approach to the role
of the public sector in achieving its goals, is brought
out clearly in the 1948 Statement on Indust'rial Policy
of the Government. It States: ’’The problem of state
participation in industry and the conditions in which
private enterprise should be allowed to operate must
be judged in context” (emphasis mine).
Domestic sources of supply were simply built up to satisfy
the already existing demand, greviously satisfied by
imports. This strategy, it may be noted, also served a
7
political purpose. The rapid expansion of large scale
industry was not in fields previously occupied by indigenous
small scale domestic producers. It was the foreign suppliers
of manufactured goods who were displaced. Thus the small,
middle and the big bourgeoisie coexisted without overt
conflicts of interest for some time. The programme for
developing the public sector was also presented at times
in terms of the prevention of excessive concentrated and
monopoly in private capitalist hands.
While toere has been a (general tendency in the direction
of shifting industries effectively from the first category
of the 1956 industrial Tolley Resolution, to the second
category, and from the second category, to the third, the
core of this industrial' policy continues in its main
outline. The prospects/' for the future are in favour of
the continued reletivelly rapid growth of the public sector,
notwithstanding the reservations Prime Minister Rajiv
Dandhi has expressed about the public sector
and despite
the evidence of a major) slowdown of public sector
investment in the 1985-06 budget, some of which is
presented in table 4 below. The reason is that the
private industrial sector requires such investment, if it
is to prosper in future as it has in the recent past.
’’Reel” planning began in India only with the onset of the
Second Five Year Plan19 and the Second Five Year Plan
’’model”, like the economic policy statements which preceded
it, focussed on industry. Moreover, within industry,
pride of place was given to basic and capital goods
producing units.
Segments of the economy producing
goods for final consumption, including agriculture,
tended to get lumped together, and the potential barriers
to increasing their output (or controlling their prices),
were virtually assumed away.
The drive to secure.
India’s economic independence, through import substitution
and the exclusion of foreign capital, which was
conspicuous in the earlier industrial policy documents,
also appears likely to have contributed to the assumption
of a closed economy, and the consequent disregard of the
possible role of foreign trade in independent IndiaTs
economic development. Finally, the quantitative targets
actually set in^the Second Five Year Plan, appear to have
been ’’arbitrary”. The formal model was used ’’merely to
provide the rationale for a shift in indu^rial investment
towards building up a capital goods base”, . In short^g
the logic of the Second Five Year Plan’s "two sector”
model seems to have rested on assumptions which had their
origin in the aspirations of India’s ambitious, but
numerically weak industrial capitalist class.
However, the capital goods consumption goods sector model
was certainly influential, and rightly so. What it
demonstr ated was that if the proportion.of investment
going to the capital goods sector was raised, the result
could be in the long run, a higher rate of growth of
consumption.
20
Further, as Ohakravarthy argues
can be shown that this
’’import-substituting capital goods first” policy,
followed by a switch in favour of consumption goods later
on is not only consistent with the maximization
of consumption at a5 future date, but is.a Iso the.best
path to pursue, provided that the switching date is
appropriately chosen. The evidence now available also
indicates that the import substitution policy was an
essential component of the optimal strategy, /-oven i
genuine export possibilities hod been appropriately
allowed for in the model the extra output growth, secured
thereby could not ’’have saved the economy from
— the need
to embark on a programme of import substitution in the
so-called core sector? of the economy”
8
i TABLE 3
g
•
7’
} of T^tal Public Sector Investment
Percentage
Share
(Net Domestic Capital Formation)^Accounted for^by
Sectors (at curr ent prices )
Investment in Specified
•
Year
Agriculture<Mining Transport Finance Total.Public
Investment
Forestry
Manu- Communic- Communi
(Rss
crores
ity,
&
facture ation &
&; Fishing
in
brackts)
Personal
Constr- Trade
Services
tion Ele
ctricity
1960-61
1965-66
12.7
12.0
1970-71
14.9
11 .5
10.6
12.0
1974- 75
1975- 76
1976- 77
58.5
45.5
57.1
45.5
40.1
45.6
16.9
22.5
24.0
18.5
28.5
25.5
51 .9
22.0
24.0
26.7
20.8
12.1
1 00 (1021 )
100 (1967)
100 (2525)
100 (5279)
100 (6925)
100 (7167)
7 o->5,
S-55 'Contribution of the
Source: Table 7, pa^e
iNational
Economy' prepared by the
Public Sector to the
National. Income Division of the Ao. u. in monthly
abstract of statistics July 1979.
TABLE 4
Plan Outlays in Specified Areas : The 1984-85 and the
(Rs. Crores)
1985-86 Budgets
1985-86
1984-85
( Budget ).
Specified Area
(Actuals)
1. Petroleum
,
2. Fertilizers
J. OOal & Lignite I
4. Drugs & Pharmaceuticals
5. Iron & Steal
6. Non-Ferrous meftals
7. Railways
8. Central Power schemes
Source:
5227
575
1117
66
1540
777
1650
1451
5085
544
977
51 '
925
566
1650
2090
!
op cit.
Budget figures cited in Kewal Varma,
i
i
27
rejects any compromises or the use of an ambiguous vocabulary,
learns from its failures and knows through experience that it can
overcome obstacles and repression.
The Optinisn of AciiQri
The myth of the euphoria that supposedly prevailed, in Latin
America around 1968 is part of that sane attempt to disqualify the
theology of liberation. It is quite normal for a new event to aro
use hope and generate illusions. 2ind the radicalness and extent of
the popular struggles during the years prior to 1968 were a now
event. But to affirm that we could then see the revolution and the
new society just around the corner is to distort historical reality.
While analyses of the political situation at that time in
Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Argentina, Mexico, and even Chile, as well as
that in Paraguay, Nicaragua end many other countries, gave no right
to harbor easy hopes, ’they did give grounds for certain fertile and
disturbing expectations.
In the early 1970s certain political events and the trend crea
ted by Medellin led to some legitimate optimism in Latin America.
But wo want to point otit that this optimism was absent during the
stage which preceded the one which 1978 calls us to evaluate. Let’s
be clear? what conservative sectors seek in affirming the existence
of a euphoric attitude in 1968 os tp undermine what began during
those years. In other words, they want to minimize the meaning of
the Christian insertion in the liberating process that sought arti
culation on the Reflection level in liberation theology and which
was expressed later with strength and the prophetic tone of the
Mecellin Conference, which wo recall with nostalgia.
Dud to a lack of knowledge of what was at stake in those years,
or understandably influenced" by the new refined forms of repression
which we are now suffering in Latin America, sone people uncritically
repeat and unwittingly legitimize what other vested groups say to
misrepresent a reality which disturbs them. Their two opinions have
had a single effect : to create confusion and keep the revolutionary
energies of the popular classes and the liberating faith of grass
roots Christian communities from developing* For this reason such
aseptic claim for historical truth? wo have to uncover what is be
hind those apparently realistic interpretations,.
Strong and Vigorous Popular Movement Contrary to what is fre
quently affirmed, especially outside of Latin America, we are in a
strong but quiet position. The popular movement is under hard pre
ssure but at the same time vigorous. It is a repressive stage but for
the popular forces it is also a creative time. It is an era of solf-r
criticism regarding the mistakes and indiscretions committed, but
above all an unmerciful criticism of the system that exploits, margi
nalizes and kills the poor.
The popular sectors have suffered hard blows, but they, have
also learned important lessons. The popular movement is aware of its
backward steps, of the amniguity of.certain- programs and of the lace
of precision of its social projects. This is part of every hi-storical
process. But it is also aware of steadfastness, hope, appropriate
silences and political realism. The exploited classes have.demonstra
ted a potential for resistance that bewilders the dominators and sur
prises the now harshly repressed revolutionary groups who have recently
taken the load in some processes in Latin America.
'I .
28
Jiecent social and political events—still somewhat ambivalent
in countries where the
■J majority are Indians and mestizos who live
in
poverty
and an
• n great
•
n
old captivity and among whom no easv
illusions could penetrate (as. for example, in Nicara^a. Peru,
a?d Ecuador)--show that the movement has continued the
surface where repression and error seemed to claim toe ?!ed!
Those who began to be> convinced that popular protest against
the continuing repression
;
#
was
extinguished are now concerned. It
will be one more episode
in a long struggle. Thorp will ha "h i
a
Insisted.
oaly be analyzed seriously“nd’Jealls'ually^""1 t.
Communities ln this complex but
popular Christian
a communities are born and live stimulating context
communities in which
becomes" rich, c
challenges all
« lovo which now oipros’so- -toolj
C rut“re~« Jutare illloa with
ifloult and
X“O2thr0th“‘
dlcircumstances to make
1& not easy under such
deeply evangelical and new~-ever—lastinZ^ew
but something
is emerging.
h new, lime Christ’s love——
P4KT II • A NEW FORM OF DOMINATION
To affirm the old historic root0
-Fho
4-•
. .
captivity status in Latin America as
° Ration of a
growing maturitv of thp
3
w©il ao go emphasize the
there are new form- of ouuio-to movement, does not mean denying
gion. The Xem^cai sLnt Som X
r?e8Si°E PreSent in th« —
in this regard should not be decStivT O^r6^116
observations
deeply rooted exploitation is and that’it w P^P°Se
that the popular classes .toisefL^:/::
to recall how
agow It was for this weesSkoaof Vh be°aUse
thought liberation
was within each. If
we spoxue of liberation it was because there wns
a consciousness
. necessary of
to Sc^fto
thiTsXi
It is
But important and significant changes have recently occurred.
Not to see them is to 16ok”at the pastu and be subjected to sterility
and historic inefficacy. In view oPwhat
possible
already said, it is
possible to
to gauge
gauge these
these changes bettor. '
be disconcerting: tho urr-vioiiq ov-n
*
c
new m them will not
without making
without
making toe
the same mistakes.PerlGncos w111 hclP us face them
Tho qualitative differeTiep nf ■b'hfS
.
better understood if we see toeso chan.0^
affairS wil1 be
gives to its internal conSadictoons and to th%anSw^
^tem
former years. Those movement- instill^,P9F"-lar movements of
be for the first time in ththe aom;Lnant classes—may
losing their privileges? td fZ to
c°Untei^-the fear of
r
-uxeges, .ana lear ls not crcative> it kills>
29
The internationalization of Capital
During the last decade international capitalism has gone
through various periods, each.with a different meaning for Latin
Americans. Following World Wax II a high sustained rate of growth
began xor~capitalist economies. The continuation of the expanding
impulse of the economices made
—--—j many economists and no li t i ci an s
think that there was ia possiblity of overcoming the characteristic
capitalist economic crises.
This era of contined capitalist growth had as one of its most
important elements the transnational manufacturing companies. In
seeking greater profits those"enterprises implemented what has been
called the orchestrated decline of productive capital, that is, the
increased shift of industrial production installation from the United
S+hL
\e ®JropGan C°™ ferket, then, on a lesser scale, from
^2SC Places> and from Japan, tower’d underdeveloped countries
2^* °fimportant economic space (in Latin America, Mexico,
ArgentianJ. The other, mostly Third World countries, which
ar. the bottom step of the international capitalist structure, have
seen some substantial changes in their traditional way of partici
pating in the international order. Accelerated industrialization
yh c,nOt n30?0
in thoso ooiMtries; rather it will use them it
nU+b f°r hlSh Profits through low wages and the ovorTexploitasuoh cs
lab0Ur suPPdy* TI1o few examples of "export platforms,"
raoterizSion
ng
nS’
d° nafc chan?G tMs general chaa c(.v Ubl -IZQ, blOH •
J1*840 presupposes a minimum of autonomy between the
contracting parties.
Thus, the °osts and values assigned to products are no longer
the real onos, and the shifting of capital at the world lovol is
accelerated. Consequently, the methods of decapitalization of poor
countries have become highly sophisticated, thus increasing the rich
nationis coercive efficiency and their power to starve people into
submission.
£gRff,e,ntre.tion,pf Power At the"same time, as a"part of the above
process there has been a concentration of financial skill and a dinit^l^0^1011 °f .^oelons tllat s°rve as intermediaries in the decapitaiization of the poor countries. Eurthermoro, technological abi
lity has become concentrated in the United States, despite the emer
gence of such economics as
. - the
”
-German and Japanese.
’ The
" concentral'lie olaer
tion of technological power and its
f
appropriation by a small .group
of countries is in groat part the result of the development of the
industry7- in which those countries are engaged•
The power to dominate nature \technologically thus cruelly
emerges from the development of the power
power to
to destroy
humanity",
destroy humanity.
sides, control of a great part of food surpluses by the United Be—
States closes off the polygon <ofn the
" concentration of power»-econonic.
financial, military, technological,j commercial and nutritional—to
a few countries, in particular, to the United States.
30
This process of growth and restructuring of the capitalist
economic order certainly did not moan progress for the Latin Ameri
can countries, least of all for their popular classes. The gap bet
ween the poor countries of the capitalist world and the metropoli
has increased, according to nenerous surveys done by international
organizations. Capitalist growth and the status of the poor in re
cent decades have again shown the essentially exclusivistic nature
of capitalist development and the role of exploitation to which the
poor countries of the world are reduced.
-Qapitalist Crisis Beginning about 1970 the uninterrupted capitalist
growth entered a time of crisis, shaking the illusory security it
had genereated. Researchers are investigating the origins, depth and
probably duration of the international capitalist crisis. Preliminary
results coincide in showing that the crisis is not the responsibility
of the mil-producing countries, as we are led to believe in the hope
of discouraging future attempts to form other associations of produ
cers of raw materials.
Seemingly, the capitalist crisis is linked to the industrial
decline of loading economies, such as the United States (and, formerly
the United Kingdom), and to the consequent weakening of the dollar.
The evidence, indicates thht the present crisis may bo of long duration,
until7/- now industrial technologies allow profit increases and a stable
political and economic relationship between industrialized countries
makes possible a dependable international currency.
Until this happens, the difficulty of applying substantive pro
fitable technological innovations and of finding a monetary stability
that would attract long-term investments leads to efforts to increase
profits by brutally diminishing payments to labor. This process begins
with the labour force of salaried workers in underdeveloped countries,
to whose traditional poverty is now added the misery which comes from
this method of arresting the crisis.
Prospect for the Poor The outlook for the poor, therefore, is not ,a
happy one, in either the goer or the bad view of the capitalist system. In either case, thc destiny of underdeveloped economies is to
provide more capital to flourshihg economies or to collaborate their
problems. Thus the perspective under capitalism offers a single future
lo the vast majorities in Latin America——povertyc
Changes in the international economic order initiated in past
decades, and continued until interrupted by the present crisis, have
not diminished at all the dependence of Latin American countriesf on
the contrary, the changes diversify and deepen the dependency. The
Tnird Way” alternatives have alreadjr abandoned their nationalist
whims and are openly throwing themselves into the arms of transnational capital. This is done under hypocritical negotiating formulas.
Tao possibilities of national liberation are passing to other social
strata and are now exclusively in the hands of exploited peoples.
-Exploitation and Democracy
This reorganization of the world economic system cannot happen
without social and political conflict. The efforts to resolve the"
conflict m a way most favourable for important economic interests
have led to certain lines of action« But naturally, many other fac
tors, especially political ones, then enter the picture. To make
everything depend on the objectives of transnational corporations
without taking into account the relationships and conflicts with
governments, for example, is to make the task easy. Or, rather, it
io to make iv more difficult ior the popular classes, since it is
31
StSE “EE
pi™:
«_-»«».
- -"•>“= ~
r
tional security rerincs arr r>«>. / “lelr historic subject. The nainperialisn and thf dominant hX“\MprSSS1“ °f what capitalist
order to impose their nS ccndiSonEOnsld?^ necessary in
contain the efforts to -orodur^
Popular classes and to
in the decade of the 1960's Th/Y^011 these classes started
not appeal directly to the c'oetrin^ f
nay °r
have created in many countries of “i f n£tloi?al security, but they
fined repression which is
f 1/ su^°ntinent a cruel and re
endured by the very poor.'
°
°ld opprQSsi°n already being
«<1-
capitalist 3y8tom, „Mch „
wvosots«. „eh a: srzs ::s? 0T?:“n off"ea
led to attenpts to give a „„„ Ioage to theEXrf“™
polio, of the oapit.liet .ohld i.
to be the only leader,
dapah. ae .„a<E
d^X.
the defense of human
rights--aii emerge as elements of this new policy. Its aim is _...i
to achieve the best conditions for the
progress of
- the economic order which
international capitalism is inplenenting •
Those projects—national.security and ■
' ir !<.+■; a ' •
rGS^ric^o^ ^onooracy—are
m Latin toca. But the situation is dK
---J to theoretical
models.
Furthermore,
’-^^y tatoSX;
:
“
a
hE
as
?„!»*««-«,
^•^
3?LOfJ.1then
w3th long histories
common peSlo^’
°nG ?Pecifi
°ally~-th
e exploitation
- -.1 of the
has acquired forns of^incrodibl^savL-rv* 110 Sou'th^ c°ne, repression
denocratic forms of social life had noM7* ?Ven n°I'G shocking since
dpread to social
- Strata that had suHr-rad le,s Ir,1??
rifh? h“
oppression and r
r.masses
K,3=ie„_,h
X1X
of the very poor
of ich
Paopla
strata
that
had
oro
o
and then certain freedoms that
—. arc alhays donlcd to tho oomsn people.
Now, in sone countries we
accomodations which run
along the line of "restricted 1 < sce signs of c.zz^.^
democracy ” that the
of necessity. This , has its limit“^7 —,j system allows out
this), but there —------1 bXle recent case cf Bolivia proves
are sone changes possible
in certain present situations.
Hights of the poor
32
and
for
•«««>.
political oonolousnoos of tta
nat"riti' of ‘>>0
tae growing insection of Christin '' cl^,aos m the last decade,
the fact that ropres-ien hS s
F°UPS ln libGr^-tion process,
neasuro hither to unknown, and°the bru£3S of^01" Se°tors i& a
in these years, has led the episcopal
repressive recimes
groups to forceful attituder ? 1 con£e^ences and other church
the Chrl.tim voloo.^
h
rl3ht!'- M
and it helped nako them known to tho
o denounce those abuses
scope.
CnOm b0 tae w°rld and thereby limited their
iatin American situation leFcSSn^hSti n°re f'djuP'ted to the
about the rights of the po-r -nd
.CbrlstlVn scctorS to speak
the poor the defense of human"rio-nts ni^rPrCt fr0I;1 the position of
words. This alternative languao-^i
1S
°ne of >st
liberal focus whinh su,ocs-s
ostented as a criticism of a
and seeks to avoid overlookin™'wh--'-^i-° en]' e<luallty in our society
at stake
natter.
that is, Poverty and the despoil £
Poverty
an
d
the
d^iSf
social
that is,
flict in Latin America
- and the bibiiccl roots ^"th^X^X^r
poor.
Latin Anericari chSo^night7all^s°t]-
t±aPS int° whiGh tho
of the "restricted domocracv" w
’ ■hQ Ga°y and naiv° acceptance
restitution of some individu-1 ° neatlOned above. That is. a fornal
tact the deep social and eccnomi^S^tv
but IsaviaS
ciation of violations of human i-i ™^i°S that exist’s r*ie dentmbeCs t-Or-th° ChUrch would Lecomel hhoSer 7
iHportfat Progressive
be satisfied with a deuocr-atir -.tv- \ ' 4 1-W;e stance if it were to
that case, it would only result
towa^d the middle classes. In
exerted now on tJjG popular classes.
f^ble domination
doaination that
that is
P°Sipoor tLe^n^oli?-^^
?! the P°Cr Cf laUn Lnerican Society
f
‘ ' and
who ever speaks of the^or
out
andjcSbL-^^^ ; S3iiX10cti'° P01"t °r a: rd —
will it be clearlv
c., that'tMs Jfsk1?— rieMs‘ Oaly thus
jonnot bo satisfSd^y1-
“Ga
-■ repression while the
remain.
The hand of ■''
oppressed people and
produces poor people,
life is the open and harsh
that ha3 struok
sectors, v/e refer to pOrSOnsKrewrta,
ariC
pooitions, Hany of th
i
?
groups who explicitly declare’their
in the church.
cnarS0 o± institutional responsibilities
4Th™Se eVonts.’ which began
today They are a grievous S
of a Christian community ever no--.
Latin America, and which is < ■
don°^
• w..kcrs, priests, bishops, stuanc. killed for their
33
religious ideas,” but for thoir social and evangelizing practices.
They are persecuted because their faith in the liberating God
is leading then to denounce the injustices committed against the
poor; because they are coninitting themselves to the’ poor in their
life and struggle; because they are trying to rethink their faith
from their solidarity with the liberation of the oppressed. They
are persecuted many tines by governments which call themselves
Christian and say that Chey are defending ’’Western Christian civi
lization and that trjr to present themselves as champions of the
faith protectors of the Church.
This monstrous lie has been denounced by many people, but it
is scandalously accepted by others and oven supported and justified
by what has been, called a ’’theology of massacre.” Others prefer to
remain silent, either because of cowardice or because of secret and
unconfessed complicity with this "false swearing by the name of Goda”
In highlighting tae persecution of Christian groups we do not
pretend in any way to maintain that this is the sector most affected
by persecution in Latin America. What we want to emphasize is that
fortunatelyJ—to be a Christian or even a priest or bishop is no
longer a protection from oppressive power. To the contrary, it be
comes subversive in the sight of the powerful and dangerous for peo
ple to commit their lives to the poor. These events also make us rea
lize the degree of exasperation to which the ruling classes have cone
m the defense of their interests•
_B^4zi.l_ Led, the Way Brazi 1, a <country where Christians have pioneered
in many ways, has been a leader in the jailing, torturing and killing
of Christians committed to the popular novenent. That began 15 years
ago and 4© still frosh in the ninds of •*'
,.1_ experienced that dethose who
basenent of the Latin American people and church at that tine the
terrible and sonber years of 1968 and 1969*
what was being punished was solidarity with the liberation efforts
el a people who were beginning to be dangerously aware of the struc
tural causes of their poverty and deprivation. Repression was directed
toward preventing this awareness fron being engraved in the collective
memory, rubbing cut the humble places where conflict was contr-i but in pto new interpretation of the faith.
length and breac.th of Latin America. It produced an impressive num
church tS^T Wh°
°f th°
wealth of th0 Latin American
age-old system
of social injustice. ,,This
is why
they
try
to explain
,
—
-----*
away those
deaths with r*
-'chau^are
’ '
reasons^
alien to faith and hope in the liberating Christ, a faith so different from their
--- : own personal experience.
They regard this with surprise, as wo said, but especially with
concern. Because those nartyrs are witnesses that there are poor
people in Latin inerica and that they question the established order.
34
This is a reality they prefer to overlook. They attribute it to
nonstructural reasons. Or, what is worse, they seek to spiritua
lize the.poor so that instead of their posing probions with their
eisquicting material poverty they give u’s solutions with an in*
offensive, misunderstood and therefore unbiblical "spiritual" po
verty.
Tho martyrs give witness to the fact that the poor die "before
their tine* because of hunger and bullets. This is why their dead
bodies are subversive (as someone said in a Christian reflection
group; and why the repressive power does not hand over the bodies
or give information which will beveal the exact circumstances of
oeath, as for example, in the case of Bishop Angelelli. The doninator coos not understand that the crisis of the "emnty sepulchre"
theiricnds of Jesus, as it is for his followers today, the
experience that enaolad them to understand the fullness of life of
the resurrected one who conquers all death.
The names of bishops and priests, and
and perhaps
perhaps"of religious and
sone lay persons, who have disappeared of have boon jailed, tortured
Raptured
and killed, are more or less known to us. Their jnumber and j^itions
in the church give proof of the polarization that is'taking^co
j in
Latin America. Less known, but certainly no
no loss DJ
.KI1x±icaw ...
significant,
are
o many campcsincs, workers and students who have not the
-J sane fate,
They are anonymous people in this history of repression land
.
hope, as
the^poor people from whom they cone and for whom they die
arc anonynous.
The blood of those who have suffered persecution for righteous
ness sake gives new rights to those the Bible calls "the poor of the
land ' to possess the o^th which they claiu so they can cultivate it
and live like human beings. Znd so that they might revltSze f^th
in tne power of the liberating God who conquers fear and doX
Very seldom have so many deaths given so much life to a people
and a church. As the prophet Ezekiel recalls, there are no dry bones
and dea.h unless.there is no hope. But the living God is with his
people. His spirit present m those dead fills then with life and
Coe ene° 0-'t0
Up life "and ^edingly great host."
The Lore. Goo will promise .ns people: "I will put ny spirit within
shairk o0Uthhf1T X’t1 Wil1 pl£1Ce y°U in y0Ur 0TO
thon y°ur
hSd"
thflt 11 txlC L°rd’ haVe spoken and 1 have <loen it, says the
Source ="The Power of the Poor in History"
Pp» 1 - 13» Pecenber ’79.
IMCS ASIA '
*
f
THE JOIQ'1?
POOR
aAKTORY
25
ofSiiZ>sU£^n?S’ ^bG^ti0n theologian, is director
oi -uima b j^ai’tolonic de las~ CCasas Centre of Theological
Reoearch and Re.flootion. In this article, he de^i;;;
the themes of domination andexploitation.
or.:1.
•J ■■
-Father
UOVQJ--°I
’S
Gutierrez claims that only from the
-he position of the poor"
of Latin American Society isi it possible to"understand
the biblical demand for the <defense of human rights.
Bart clone de las Casas vras
ono of hany witnesses of-the death that
acconpanied the beginnings
tury. The description
poor, the Indian with tho dominator,
being as idyllic as some people want the conqueror, is far fron
us^ to believe today* Men of
the oppressors, but
but with
with a
perience of faith,' pronhotim 1
° lca^1y with a different ex
enounced
time" of the inhabitants of t’177TC^°
UnCed the
thc “"death
deat11 before their
Ploitation.
na-D-b<"nL& 0± tae ^dies
—5 as well as their brutal ex-
Thus, that " deach out of season" ■'
that cuts short the right to
life has been present from
the beginning
311 0S3ential Part of the
social order established st thn+ +-!„
cuts what Fray Pedro de Cordoba,- ime. That social order still underlife and earthly multiplication" anothcr eyewitness, called "the
of the poor. But simultaneously,
to^Lr
^credible and difficult
conversion of the Indian
to the killing o^the^.DonrV^^L^l^
0® ^.Waning
ii means that from
the beginning a "no!"
jounced
and
mental right to life was affirmed. It is aT’oldthat the poor's ele.but it
i^Present under new guises and persecutes those oppression;.
who rise
------ j against
PART I: AN OLD OPPKESSIOIT
A1TD A DEEP HOPE
The oppression is old
cli and deep; as old i
as the efforts of the
to libo1’ato themselves
------s
from
it
and
as deep
J as the hope
that is in them.
-^2. .Avoid Historical /.mnos-in
written fror/tbl persnectTvo^oflibo:E,ation» wllich should be reLatin’ Zrieri ca o r
of c new political
-1 consciousness of
°f the on^cnco
the Latin American people. In
fact, the now ccnscirvsnoss is
olct situation to whicn wo have S- rS per^Pti^ of the centuries
t.
° ~ erred, an accelerated and
sharpened perception due,, to -Lthincreasing contradictions in the
present system.
-Ca Co-Sa£iousi1osE^.;.n
6o,
became a social force .^dT^---"^ ■ This popular consul ousnoss
expressed
itself in the popular struggles
or iiberatien in the decade
of
-----I.the
ollow ed different paths, as divorce1960's. The popular
------- • s'
struggles
as uiverce as ..the Latin America^
-~*i reality.
jKi
A
26
The ruling classes, however, preferred to ignore the historical
meaning of the struggles. That is why they, and sone ecclesiastical
circles, insist on saying that the struggles were the work of a
minority, of small radical"’groups, of students and even of some
priests who lost connection with their bases.
This is an intent! .cnal or naive simplification of a •Duplex
situation. There is an effort to invalidate what happened during
those years • • • • But the truth is that distortions of the facts
prevent one from seeing the deep waters of the novenent of history;
and therefore, by not perceiving clearly the*exact points of rupture
and continuity one is kept from understanding what is really at
stake. There have been failures and illusions, but also advances and
a growing realism that makes the present order’s privileged people
uneasy.
The political consciousness of the Latin American people is
also seen in their improved knowledge of the socio-economic situa
tion of the region. The so-called dependency theory, in so far as
it knew how to place domination in the context of conflict between
social classes, fruitfully encourage this knowledge of reality.
With all its limitations, this attempt to thinking through our
historical process with our own categories was stimulated by the
thrust of liberation movements in the decade of the 1960s and con
tributed to their security. In those years it helped to clarify the
rejection fey the popular classes of the policies and vagueness of
reformism. But the present situation’”of the popular movement and
the level achieved by the internationalization of capital arc out
lining new practices and new theoretical demands. We will say more
this in the next paragraph.
Pointing the Way
This birth of a more vertebrate and organized
popular movement was accomplished with new tools of analysis with
a clear anticapitalist projection or with a search for a more exact
model. It was, as we are all awaresavagely' repressed in its radi
cal as well as moderate variants. This happened in Brazil, Guatemala,
Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, and" at the beginning of the decade of
the t970!s with unheard of refinement" and violence in Chilo" where “’
a socialist project was being implemented, and in Uruguay and Argentiana.
Masters of military power, controlling the political levels and
the communications media, the ruling groups sought to dismantle the
theology of liberation when they affirm that the historic process
of liberation was not a movement of people who wore awakening to a
new consciousness but only of isolated minorities. That is what they
endeavor to do when they cut off the historical memory of a people
and prevent them from seeing what their struggles of today owe to
those of times past. This also happended in Christian circles which
for different reasons were close to the popular struggle more than
a decade earlier and that only now are rediscovering the role of
the subcontinent’s impoverished cormon people.
It is true that this rediscovery is being carried through with
boldness and creativity, but there is the risk of falling into the
trap of the dominators and contributing in some way to the historic
amnesia that they want to produce among the people. We are speaking
not only of a nostalgic and grateful remembrance of the past but of
the subversive memory which strengthens the firmness of our positions,
y.
rr
1
the ickf?
poor
aJSSTORY
25
*'
Gustavo^gutiorrez, liberation theologian, is director
of I’ima-s Barto_opd de las Casas Centre of Theological
Research and Reflection. In tills article, he develops
the themes of domination and exploitation. Father Guti
erres claims that only from the position of the poor"'
Latin American Society is it possible to’understnnd
the biblical demand for the defense of human rights.
Bartolome de las Casas was one of many witnesses "of" the* dAnth fwi> +
declination'in the ?«!:
16th S!
♦STS?
ry. The des c-.?. pt ion the witnesses left of the
- —J encounter of the
poor, the Indian with the doninator, the
conqueror, is far from
being as idyllic as some people want us ■'
to believe today. Men of
e same culture, race and country as theJ oppressors,
oppressors, but
but with
with a
different experience of faith, prophetically
with a different
Sme"&of g/f^AP^P^^cally denounced the -death before.J ex_ ’,’
-—~»»“• e their
Gino oi the inhaoi'cants of tho 7
indies
as
well
as
their
brutal
exploitation*
'
-------
Ilf a ^Shoth:i’' "dGath 0Ut °f soason"
soci^order^^abi^hAr^t^th^0?1111111^^
cuts short the riPht to
esSGntial
°f the
cuts what Fray JPedro de Cor^b-"
S°f
°rder Sti11 Underi-i-p
xi
xT-,
a'G b0rCt00t;-, another eyewitness, called "thn
1. wsoni
„w
PART I: AM OLD OPPRESSION AND A DEEP HOPE
The oppression is old and'deep; as old
as the efforts of the
exploited to liberate themselves from it and
as deep as the hope
that is in then.
To Avoid Historical Amnosi^
witt^fJon^n
iteration, which should be re’-
-ncs^ is only the perception of the centuries
old situation to which wo
’•^huyo just referred, an accelerated and
sharpened perception due
to -oho increasing contradictions in the
present systono
ZQ.WfAcal _Consciousness in
•h^O 1 s
This popular consciousness
became a social force and
jd itsell in the popular struggles
struggles
for liberation in the clocadoU
e
196O»s.
The
popular
struggles
follow ed different paths, as CL’nl
^rce as..the Latin American
Znerican reality.
26
The ruling classes, however, preferred to ignore the historical
meaning of the struggles . That is why they, and sone ecclesiastical
circles, insist on saying that the struggles were the work of a
minority, of small radioal"'groups, of students and oven of sone
priests who lost connection with their bases.
This is an intent! ,onal or naive simplification of a •omplex
situation. There is an effort to invalida,te what happened during
those years .... But the truth is that distortions of the facts
prevent one from seeing the deep waters of the movement of history;
and therefore, by not perceiving clearly the exact points of rupture
and continuity one is kept from understanding what is roally at
stake. There have been failures and illusions, but also advances and
a growing realism that makes the present order’s privileged people
uneasy.
The political consciousness of tho Latin Ariorican people is
also seen in their inprovod knowledge of the socio-econonic situa
tion of the region. Tho so-called dependency theory, in so far as
it knew how to place donination in tho context of conflict between
social classes, fruitfully encourage this knowledge cf reality.
With all its limtations, this attempt to thinking through our
historical process with our own categories was stimulated by the
thrust of liberation novomonts in the decade of the 1960s and con
tributed to their security. In those years it helped to clarify the
rejection fey the popular classes of the policies and vagueness of
reformism. But the present situation of the popular movement and
the level achieved by the internationalization of capital arc out
lining new practices and new theoretical demands. We will say more
this in the next paragraph.
Pointing the Way
This birth of a more vertebrate and organized
popular movement was accomplished with new tools of analysis with
a clear anticapitalist projection or with a search for a more exact
model. It was, as we are all aware, savagely’ repressed in its radi
cal as well as moderate variants. This happened in Brazil, Guatemala,
Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, and" at the beginning of the decade of
the 4^970!s with unheard of refinement" and violence in Chile" where
a socialist project was being implemented, and in Uruguay and Zrgentiana.
Masters of military power, controlling the political levels and
the communications media, tho ruling groups sought to dismantle tho
theology of liberation when they affirm that the historic process
of liberation was not a movement of people who wore awakening to a
new consciousness but only of isolated minorities. That is what they
endeavor to do when they cut off the historical memory of a people
and prevent them from seeing what thoir struggles of today owe to
those of tines past. This also happended in Christian circles which
for different reasons were close to the popular struggle more than
a decade earlier and that only now are rediscovering tho relo of
the subcontinent’s impoverished common people.
It is true that this rodiscovo
is being carried through with
boldness and creativity, but theij^ s the risk of falling into the
trap of the doninators and cent
rting in some way to the historic
amnesia that they want to produce among the people. We are speaking
not only of a nostalgic' and grateful remembrance of the past but of
the subversive memory which strengthens the firmness of our positions,
i
22
INTWAL COLOglSATIOW
articla A.K.
Roy describes the
.
process of exploitation
of the Tribals
industrialisation and
into the Tribal as
capitalism penetrates
Areas. This
colonisation", It is a t------ process has been c
ea-x-led. nIntex*n,al
progressive destruction
society, its suppression.
-j. of tribal
in India at Present is Rs 1278 whereas
pur to
“ Trl?”« B= 872,
°mi-
o"‘i
in
in
in BanionoJ nine
the annual petrolenn produoti , . * Out of ^he 84J crore rupees from
meagre 2s 22 crore
ASSan’ the
share is a
rupees worth of te’ the jStl OpSn,a“er Production of 400 crore
so the States have "no control nv^+h-08-?01 deviv<3 any profit becaucountry has 15,000 small prd biA-i-+ lten• •/hG1‘eas the entire
of the North-East toa-otlv-.r w'tr.dustries, all the seven S.iates
Assam has a stock 0P9 crore^tons^of
?Ore SJ'e b&in& built,
dustry.
°ro tons of 00al» but
no coalwhased in
In rural development also, the discrimination is
clear. For
every 100 square Im the country lias 54,4 kiloneters
of
road but in
the North-East the ratio is only 25.6 km. r
is,only 23.6 kn. The^total area of the "
North-East is 8% of the country but it has 3.2^
Irrigation facilities arc available to only 11^ of its railways,
of cultivable land
against 3Q$ for the entire
ntano country.
"« 1» ti>» ioaliue.
of
India it S 34!^’DX fS"v
io panted tat i„ ^1“/So ds°35
“ 4"
exploitation is only too clonr Th.
Ji* 7h? faoe of economic
parity between different Stni-.o ^4. apor
fact is that this disof decreasing is actually on the increase ^’ihis^s C01:EiUnities instead
turmoil within the country, sometimes leading to comSS^oSceT
^ighi^ning
- in an area
K?lrC^tyJ,and,plenty» darkness and
siderlexpfoiifi^??6 b0Undary lino between the iGcai
— poor and tho outin that Indn- n Th
\1S Q rX0h couniry inhabited L
v
by
Recentlv n
fharkhand ls a richer area inhabited by poor people. But
sin- Se 95I of^h
WaS Bh0Wn whero in sPibo poorer people.
27% of bauXe, ^"of“co^Ad^S^
W °of
f Ji^rica posses'
dhar^d^^^Se^^XS:
gely destitute’due to inp’erl lift Spl^tX
Pe°ple
tion in Jharkhhnd, especiallv
n; S1Llllar is ibe situaPhically 2.5# of India but
-p ho^n!:iS^. Chotanagpur is gcograthere. in spit?of p^dufU l05
mi^al Wealtb is Profuced
and J8.4# of bauxitf Se pcopl live ^Th’
°f QiCa'
of coal
facilitate the British imneri I-i S
i ^human poverty. In 1894 to
in these areas and work started in ^plo:LtfltlPn rail lines were laid
tanagpur-SanthaI-Par°anas w£?'
r°sion of Jharin. In Qhoin 1951 it became 34°ani in ?9?1 ofi
Of/°TOS was
in 1901,
Ccrpdtatdou of India, »a.od„
i
/
23
ww" XS’ShTS £Xl.°o“
from these, on the contrary about Fv
iFF
In
Chotain Chotahaving G total of
vld n01 P
rofi^ ianything
profit
oxid. tribals
t°°tM ^°“
*“» area »hll“ tS’S
*■> lokha of
Skty, P-otaW, th8 oheaport aa Xta’a “ “ ““O'
oua.^xi-u aiter connodity.
4
5ihGr draws 80% of -i +« n-
British exploited India in su»},
P “ f Jharkhand. Not oven the
a nunber Of sn^li d ro ” n sucn a banner. It is nosq-i^i • n
Deputy Conmissioner
But
and lakhs of acres of agricultur 1 i
S were built drowriF 1S
are not available to the locF F
Yot irriSution faciSfies
country and 27$ of the State^re irrF !h®reas
of the l^d F the
tunate enough to get ir-ni
to .radial „£
\ ri;L^c-^ed, only 7*2% of l-md 4
ST^2 ’f T*
in Ranchi. Under this project 45 Sn
s
ar°
has been start i
sa:*’for ‘TX^^;TX‘ra“\is «>>*•
20%
4.t
1 0110^^nagpur are olopt-T-ps
z6 and the country 27.3% Tho -j i •
“t'tii»eX2<!o“0Mtlt i?airoyi“?
but only 5% of
whereas for Bih^r n f 4«
»S>J*1SX5’x!1J^ tlw
district, p
inposing and
destruction in the nane of econonic
Hardest job and lowest
wage is the fats !, exploitation continues,
WSk F0?0 in ^arkhand.
r-Ly they were c
-—
uve” n°
employed
in th
i° 1work in then. Until recon..J of the -n.the nineS but now
diving them out
.. nechamsation has started
for SC/sr is not fill^ nines tee. The reservation
' quota in posts
m employment is f.-Lst <' up even within Jharkhand. Their
percentage
People of Jharkh^nr’
a_
■the forests the
She officer ^7+
i annot find
■ employnont in the
tribals for *1? Th °r C°Ebine 'destroys the forestsfDrest department,
ur ir. lhe assets
and contractors in Ranchi, movaole and immovable, and blames the
forest officers
^Maeh, Dht0lbt,d m> Ataa
—i show
f
4
24
who is behind the destruction cl
of Jungles. This situation is not
only for the people but for local
-- trees also ; sal is therefore
being replaced oy teak in the forests
• The face of the jungles
changes with that of the society.
Not only socially and oo.ncnically, but also nolitioalW
and culturally Jharkhand is systematically bein/* costroy-d Li
khald bitrthneVeah NoVnly the lc-nd and thc foists of Jharn
? character of the people is being destroyed and nade
fv °
f,°f ln°ome t0 the exploiters. Fifty yearB back Tagore'wrote
tziat with muscle power the British spread opium in China imported
rom Hongkong; today the Congress party under the photo of Gandhiji
and with police protection is commercialising liquor in tb= countS’
The cuiture of Jharkhand and more particularly tribal culture is 5 "
socialise m its core, where discrimination between high and low
rH‘S-V — “
seoti“B"
SFXSL™1”8 Ma
.“oS;
i
th»* -
the "do“£’Xi« KseSiP«ly4XSOi‘eif°i la'!' M
tat
tale.
Y“-
tadtaete t«o
_
The present condition in India is scuh that
industrialisation of
hackward
—I areas doc-s not benefit the
undeveloped communities inhabiting
these areas . It only ends up in establish!]- —
- --------- ngthe
some
colonies of some
shrewd people by displacing or subjugating
local
------ people.
Source : A.K Roy: ’'Clitics of Disparity- in Frontier
riaren i, u>b, pp, 5 -(;O y*
I
-.{tf
* Ct) Vl M UN IT Y H E AIT H C Ell
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5
***************************
1st May 1986.
Lear Friend,
Please find enclosed the following:
1 • iO^UL-CQIONISATION : (pp 22 to 24)
In this article A^. Roy describes the process of exploitation
of the.Tribals as industrialisation and capitalism penetratesrinto
the Tribal Areas. This prooessilhas been called "Internal Colonisation"
it ±s a progressive destfucnion of tribal sodidty; it su-pp*essi6ri.
2« Jgg-PQ.WER.OF THE JO OR IN HISTORY • (pp 25 to 34?
Gustavo Gutierres, liberation theologian, is director of Lima’h
B^tolome do
Eoflooti6^
Oa^ Contro of a<lological
n thaa az.fcoio, ho develops the tho.es of donation and exploitation,
other Butlorres olol„ that only fren th. position of the poor„of fatta
t^ ::r °ci) f ™"it po!,3ibie to
nme.1 d8mand fOr
rne defence of human rights.
econojfy OF INDIES PLMNED INVESTMENT
ECONOMY : (pp "1 to' 19
•IThis paper studies tho various iMvn
•dt
,
th« T a, 4. •
„
various Five Year Plans and reflects how
ndustraal Bourgeoisie hasA,effactively dominat'd
y nominated economic policy
Jhe pX“
«>*
Wishing you all the best.
ISI DOCUMENTATION centre,
£ J Jf
sB«HK5:«gF
1.
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