KORIYA INITIATIVE, CHATTISGARH

Manendragarh would not have been on our map, but for Samir Garg a friend from our IRMA days. Together with his wife Sulakshana, they have initiated what they loosely term the Koriya Initiative, working on community health and the public distribution system. Both had come through several years in the PRADAN-model of development, promoting rural livelihoods, questioning the efficacy of this approach in bringing about social transformation and empowerment. A key player in this is Biraj Patnaik, also a fellow IRMAn, working as Regional Manager of Action Aid, in Chattisgarh. With some motivation from Biraj, Samir and Sulakshana landed in Manendragarh, a town in Koriya district in the north-east of Chattisgarh towards the end of 2002. Their work currently spans two blocks of Koriya district – Manendragarh and Janakpur, a total of about 300 villages/habitations.

Riding on the government’s programme for health promotion in rural areas, the Koriya Initiative perhaps demonstrates how government programmes can be made to work and be effective at that. As they clearly articulate – “The challenge was not only to build quality into the health work but also to make the programme unambiguously ‘rights’ oriented.”

The Mitanin Programme

The Chattisgarh government initiated the Mitanin programme with support from the European Union to reform the primary health delivery system in the State. The object was to train a cadre of hamlet based women health workers, called Mitanin (the word means friend in Chattisgarhi) - some 60,000 of them. The regional office of Action Aid played a significant role in setting up the programme and the State Health Resource Centre (SHRC), the state-level project management unit.

The principles of the Mitanin programme sound simple enough – the SHRC would build capacities of selected Mitanin, systematically, through a modular training programme. These women must devote part of their time towards spreading health awareness and at a later stage basic treatment as well. A group of Mitanins are supported by a full time worker, also called ‘trainers’, but who Koriya Initiative chose to call Prerak - Mobiliser. The trainings were organized on a campaign mode, transcending several aspects of building capacities of Mitanins, spreading awareness of ailments and available government services, collecting reliable data on access to health services and continuous community based monitoring. Jan Sunwais are a crucial aspect of maintaining watch on the system and its effectiveness. Most importantly it also helped the government to build reliable health delivery systems and connect with the people it is mandated to serve.

The basic message spread during these campaigns is that, health services is a right which has to be demanded from the government. The Mitanins have taken up the leadership in mobilizing the community, especially women and demanding health services from the Government. This way, The Koriya Initiative places the Mitanins in the centre of a rights based strategy.

We were surprised, quite naturally, that the Mitanins worked quite effectively – at least in the areas we visited - without any remuneration. Santibai in Balashiv village is an example. A normal adivasi woman, with no pretensions of being a ‘doctor’. But that is what she is for the villagers. The sense of dignity (izzat) that women like Santibai imbibed on being given this responsibility is probably the reason behind the success of the endeavour. With a quiet sense of confidence the Mitanins interact with government health officials, and as confidently treat cases of fever and diarrhoea in their village, and accompany patients to the health center when they can’t treat them.

Significantly Mitanins have been trained in reproductive health of women and health, nutrition and growth of children – aspects which are regularly monitored within the communities. As a corollary, Mitanins were pitted head on with ICDS centers on distribution of take-home rations, and ANMs who are mandated to perform immunizations, while on the other hand they had to mobilize enough community awareness to demand these services.

A more crucial challenge was to get adivasi women to acknowledge and articulate problems in reproductive health. This focus has also created the space for women to come together and discuss issues of common concern, and in several instances counter domestic violence and assert themselves in their homes and in the village.

Ensuring food security

The right to health soon led the focus to the need for adequate nutrition, and the members of the Koriya Initiative saw potential to mount a right to food campaign on the base built with the Mitanins. There was also the opportunity provided by the Supreme Court orders on the Right to Food cases. The Court had appointed two Court Commissioners to oversee the implementation of its orders by the Governments. Biraj was appointed an Advisor to the Commissioners for the State of Chattisgarh. KI had a sure-shot method to get the State and District Administration to wake up and take action. The Koriya initiatives mobilized the Mitanins to ensure that PDS worked. From demanding their cards, to understanding what provisions for rations are mandated, to holding Jan sunwais exposing the state of PDS, the momentum was built up. Entrenched social and political orders are being challenged in the process.

Over a period of a year, campaigns were launched in several villages to get Public Distribution Centres to work effectively. This too was in sync with efforts at the State level by several NGOs and the Action Aid team to demand that PDS centers be run by Panchayats, or Self Help Groups, and not by private dealers. While this been discussed on several occasions at the national level and in different States, no State had actually come up with necessary legislation.

Following hectic lobbying, a state level order was passed that PDS outlets be operated henceforth by Gram Panchayats with one-third of shops being run by self-help groups. Several private operators protested while several others attempted to subvert the order, especially the clause on SHGs. Originally the State Act had specified that SHGs that were three years or older would only be eligible for running the PDS shops. Trader lobby pressure ensured that this clause was changed to make one-year old SHGs to be eligible.

Samir is also coordinating a Chattisgarh state-wide network on Right to Food. Seven adivasi-dominant districts are covered by this network. Local activist groups are provided support in the form of inputs and guidance on logical and organized ways of approaching the issue. This involved collection of relevant data, its analysis and target-specific presentation. Nine schemes of the government, meant to provide food security to the most vulnerable among the rural population, are being closely monitored in Koriya and other districts. The schemes are:
- Public Distribution System, Antodaya Anna Yojana, Annapurna Yojana
- Integrated Child Development Scheme, Mid-day meal in schools
- Social security scheme including old age pension, widow pension and disability allowance
- National Food for Work Programme
- National Maternity Benefit scheme, National Family Benefit scheme

Mankuwar is a Prerak working in the Visrampur area of Manendragarh block. When we met her, she was suffering from severe malaria. The fever, however, could not douse her spirit. She narrated the saga of their struggle with a local political leader-cum-trader named Lakhan Srivastava to get the PDS shop to work well. Srivastava and his cronies who ran the shop kept to themselves the PDS cards meant to be issued to the poor. When the KI began its work on collecting cases of PDS non-functioning, this was one of the first to come up. Mankuwar, escorted by her husband who constantly nagged her to give up this task, walked from village to village collecting testimonials from families and organizing meetings. Srivastava’s goondas tried to intimidate her and other women. She narrated the incident of three of them having to take refuge behind the embankment of a pond on hearing the sound of a jeep. All three of ended up in the pond, unable to find a grip on the slope of the embankment!

The PDS shop in Visrampur now functions properly. All families have got their cards and are regularly being supplied food grain as per the rules.

It is amazing the way Santibai and Mankuwar relate to the reality around them. Also the confidence they exude when talking about what lies ahead.

Activist professional?

A thought that kept coming to mind – ‘Is such action possible without intermediaries?’ – Samir and Sulakshana in this case. The State backing and the capacity building and coordination provided by SHRC are important, but are they enough to challenge and influence and change practices at the local level. Samir explained how efficacy differed among different areas. In adivasi pockets especially there is need for greater support, sensitivity and accompaniment, which the framework by itself is not designed to provide. This also led us to question how long the loose formation of the Koriya Initiatives and Samir and Sulakshana’s presence is necessary. They choose to remain in the background, not project themselves as surrogates to the people. They project the Adivasi Adhikar Sanghatan (a loose formation as yet, soon to obtain a formal form) as being the legitimate body to take up issues of adivasi rights. Within the levels of information available and entrenched socio-political systems, how far is the AAS likely to go? Will they not need, at least in the foreseeable future, the kind of external support that the Koriya Initiatives provide, till they gain enough confidence and capacities to challenge centuries of practices, socio-political structures?

This takes us to one of the primary questions that we set out to explore. Where and how does one draw the line between the work of an activist and that of a professional? For now, at least, we would like to submit that the work being done by KI is more that of a professional than that of an activist. As they themselves have proven and continue to articulate, their role has been behind the scene – organizing, coordinating and enabling interface of the communities with external actors. Samir may baulk at this, but what else is professional action?

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TWO COOPERATIVES, MADHYA PRADESH

Kesla block, Hoshangabad district in Madhya Pradesh could well qualify as a hotbed of cooperation, at least, of co-operatives. Here we saw two quite different styles of co-operative organisations, quite different from the ‘Anand-pattern’ cooperatives.

The older of the two, Tawa Matsya Sangh (TMS), deals with fish. It is registered under the old co-operative Act of the State, which means it is under the mercy of the State Cooperative department. It has a strong governance mechanism that requires members to take decisions.

The other, Kesla Poultry Samiti (KPS), deals with broiler chicken. It is a new generation cooperative, under the self-supporting cooperatives Act. It is also a member controlled entity, but managed by ‘professionals’.

Fishing in troubled waters

Sometime in the 1970’s a dam was planned to be built across the river Tawa. This dam, completed sometime in the 1990’s displaced around 36 villages. Most of the displaced families were adivasis. The displaced families, who received meagre compensation, resettled themselves around their old villages, on the banks of the Tawa reservoir. The dam also resulted in the creation of a large reservoir, a good source for captive fisheries and income for poor people. The government had other ideas; it leased the fishing rights to a private contractor.

After a series of agitations, the government finally acceded fishing rights to the displaced families who, by now had organised themselves into village level fisheries cooperatives. These village level cooperative societies were federated at the block level to form Tawa Matsya Sangh.

Counting chickens after they hatch

KPS is a co-operative of poultry farmers in Kesla block. KPS owes its origin to PRADAN (Professional Assistance for Development Action) a non-governmental organisation that has been working in the area since the mid-eighties. PRADAN identified small-scale broiler poultry as a feasible income generating activity suitable for the area. In a pioneering effort, village men and women were trained in the intricacies of poultry management, necessary support infrastructure built up and market linkages established. Initially, marketing of the produce was done by PRADAN. As the activity grew to cover a larger number of producers, a collective was established, which eventually became the Kesla Poultry Samiti.

Shades of co-operation – Fish vs. Chicken

One day in July 2005, we made short visits to both TMS and KPS. Their main offices are about seven kilometres apart. However, at a different level, that of mutual understanding, they seemed leagues apart. We tried to elicit from functionaries of both cooperatives, what they thought of the other. This is what we heard.

“TMS is good, but they are not efficient. They have very little understanding of the market”.

“The Poultry society does good work, but the members hardly have any information about what happens in the society. They are not transparent”.

The Statistics

We should have pitted these two statements against each other, but not expecting (right or wrong) introspective responses from either party, refrained from doing that. We chose to leave the difficult terrain of efficiency and transparency and looked at some numbers. We were able to readily obtain copies of annual reports of TMS for several years. Those from KPS were not readily available; we are still waiting for them to reach us. What we did get, enabling a quick comparison, was relevant figures for the year 2004-05. A summary of comparable information we have is in the table below.

Tawa Matsya Sangh
Membership
Coops 40
Persons 1,500
Active Members 484

Production (Sales)
Quantity (tons) 382.00
Value (Rs. Millions) 13.13

Net Profit to Cooperative (Rs. Millions) 0.05
Primary producers’ earnings (Rs. Millions) 6.28

Kesla Poultry Samiti
Membership
Coops -
Persons 285
Active Members 252

Production (Sales)
Quantity (tons) 656.00
Value (Rs. Millions) 26.00

Net Profit to Cooperative (Rs. Millions) Not Available
Primary producers’ earnings (Rs. Millions) 2.11

(Sources: Annual report of TMS 2004-05 & Data provided by Dr. H K Deka, KPS)

TMS claims that each of its active members earns an average daily income of Rs.102 from fishing. This includes the remuneration for fish sold to the Society (Rs.16.44 per kg during 2004-05) and bonuses paid from the profits of TMS. As per figures available, the average daily income has increased 53% in seven years, from the Rs.66.56 in 1997-98.

KPS’ figures indicate that 43 (17%) active members earned annual income in excess of Rs.12000, while 147 (58%) earned between Rs.6000 and 12000. Quick calculations from figures available for both cooperatives show that the average income earned by active members in a twelve-month period is Rs.12.975 in case of TMS and Rs.8,373 for KPS.

Both the entities provide several occupation-specific support services to the primary producers. In case of TMS this is in the form of re-stocking of the reservoir with fingerlings, support for buying fishing nets and lines, facilitation of a Central government scheme that links individual savings of fishermen to compensation for meeting expenses during the non-fishing season (June 15 to August 15). KPS supplies feed and medicines and services of trained veterinary workers who take care of poultry health care. The work of KPS is closely linked to the SHG programme of PRADAN and members thus have access to a host of services from PRADAN.

Future Tense

Both TMS and KPS face several challenges in the days ahead.

TMS’ existence in contingent upon it obtaining the fishing rights in the Tawa reservoir every five years. This is easier said than done. The vested interests, that have always tried to prevent the people from getting what is rightfully theirs, are still active. Added to this is the new situation rendered by the Bori Tiger Sanctuary. Part of the Tawa reservoir is within this sanctuary and the forest department has been citing extant wildlife statutes to prevent any fishing activity in those waters. An additional concern is that many of the villagers who are members of the fisheries cooperative are facing eviction once more, this time from the sanctuary where they presently reside. TMS has a long history of agitations, struggles and confrontation with the administration behind it. There is very little love lost for TMS in the administrative circles. With the current lease expiring in early 2006, days ahead are bound to bring in more agitations and confrontations.

KPS faces challenges of a different nature. As long as PRADAN is around, KPS has little to worry about. There are indications that controls are being handed over gradually to the owners by PRADAN. However, inspite of the levels of demystification, it is acknowledged that management of KPS will need a certain amount of skill, abilities and support from outside. Will the form of KPS enable primary producers to exercise their ownership rights? How and when KPS will chart a course for itself, independent of PRADAN is not certain as yet, though there is a stated intent to do so. PRADAN has consciously promoted women as primary producers, and they are de jure owners of KPS. All intermediaries – service providers, marketing agents and managers in KPS office are men. This could be a potential arena of conflict as well.

It would be interesting to go back to Kesla in a year or two and look again at the shades of cooperation there.

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PRADAN, MADHYA PRADESH

ir bole hum SHG banayen,
bir bole hum SHG banayen
batte bole hum SHG banayen
aur hum banayen ‘sakhi samiti’
(with due apologies to Amitabh Bachchan and Samir Garg)

That, and ‘murga farm’ was what we had heard about PRADAN at Kesla, before we got here. From Khandwa we came to Itarsi and took a 45 minutes ride in a rickety 14-seater jeep to Suktawa. Over the next few days, we learnt that there was much more happening here than SHGs and murga.

PRADAN works in about 97 hamlets hemmed in, in between the Suktawa/ Tawa rivers, the Bori tiger sanctuary (some villages are actually within the sanctuary) and the Proof Testing Range, Taku. The population comprised largely of adivasi communities – Gond and Khorku. The initial work started in the late 80’s was on non-farm livelihoods – poultry, mushroom and small industries, with women. Organised SHGs began almost a decade later and has today reached saturation in these 97 hamlets.

Day 1, after a brief discussion with Madhu, we landed in Chowkipura village with KVS and met Savitrabai. Articulate and confident she told us about Narmada Mahila Samiti, the SHGs in her village and in neighbouring villages, the cluster level samiti and Narmada Mahila Sangh – a federation of all SHGs in the area. The groups meet each week, while the cluster and federation level meetings are held each month. They are helped by an ‘accountant’ (a local educated youth) who helps them keep their records in order, and who each member pays Rs.5/ month on average. Savitribai told us about how their lives have changed, the freedom form moneylenders, the additional income from activities such as poultry. How their children were now able to go to school, eat and clothe better. We were beginning to believe that this was all money talk, when Savitiri bai took us by surprise and said ‘hum sabne milkar shasan banaya’ and went on to cite examples of how they approached and addressed issues of conflicts in villages, especially when it came to rallying around women who were getting a raw bargain in their families or in the community. There were cases of domestic violence being resolved as well efforts to stop alienation from property.

We walked around the village and saw several poultry sheds, whitewashed, sturdy, with shiny drinkers and feeders, in red plastic, hanging from the roofs. 60 women in Chowkipura itself have involved themselves in the business – constituting a sixth of the women in the poultry business. They made it sound deceptively simple – the 45 day cycle of growth of a 300 chick batch. They are helped along by Kesla Poultry Samiti - KPS, which provides standardised raw materials, daily feed for the chicken (there is a feed mill at PRADAN’s campus at Kesla which is managed by KPS), does immunisation and treatment of birds, and buys the hens from them once they grow. There is a supervisor appointed by KPS for each cluster of producers, who conducts daily checks of the chicken, stocks feed and medicines, coordinates and keeps detailed records of inputs and outputs. KPS ensures process standardisation and keeps the women shielded from market fluctuations, as it happened during the ‘bird flu’ threat. KPS suffered that year, but has recovered since.

While poultry has been the most successful activity so far, and is increasing in scale, other activities have also met with a fair degree of success. Over 160 women are involved in mushroom cultivation. There isn’t much expansion planned in the immediate, till a larger market is identified. While they supply sun dried, cut mushroom to Hindustan Lever for Knorr soups now, they are looking to tie up with other companies as well.

About 60 women are involved in mulberry sericulture, and over the past few years eri sericulture has been introduced with castor plantations to provide for feed for the worms. Similar in process to mulberry sericulture, the big difference is that castor is a much more robust plant which grows well in undulating hilly areas and rainfed conditions. PRADAN is the only organisation to have been given the project by the Department of Sericulture to undertake eri culture. The attention to detailing was striking, as we visited several farmers with Amjad in the Dandivada cluster. There was a large meeting of farmers with oilseeds experts from Hyderabad and Department of Sericulture officials during our visit. If this was any indication of the level of seriousness, almost all 400 farmers involved in the enterprise attended.

Interestingly in the past few years, there is also greater attention to land based activities. Linking with food for work schemes and EPCO scheme (of the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment) for bio villages, work has been started in several villages. We visited Pipalpura where a range of measures for soil and water conservation have been undertaken – field bunds, 5% treatment, contour trenches, horticulture, etc. So far treatment has been done on the basis of individual holdings, rather than on the ‘geo-topographic area’, with 55 of the 60 farmers in the village involved. Given the experience over the past year, there is a felt need to approach treatment on an area basis, rather than with individual farmers.

Economics of empowerment

The organisation structure of PRADAN is lean, and all professionals work directly with women’s groups. PRADAN routes all its activities through women. Men are informed and involved. Some of them are more involved than others, as the ‘service providers’. The concept of ‘service providers’ is recent in PRADAN’s frame. We were given to understand that women choose the ‘service providers’ based on some desirable criteria for the particular activity, and remuneration/incentive is paid to ‘service providers’ is by the women’s group. Given physical limitations to visits/ interactions of professionals there is a fair level of reliance on ‘service providers’ by PRADAN. From what we understand, all ‘accountants’ and ‘service providers’ are men. Would it be necessary for PRADAN to build women’s capacities (skills/ knowledge/ aptitude) to take up these responsibilities? Or can it be safely assumed that the women can as a group have adequate negotiation capacity vis-à-vis these men? Will they be able to keep the controls, without these men taking over?

PRADAN’ approach is clearly is one of techno-managerial interventions towards livelihoods promotion. There is an endeavour to develop a variety of livelihoods solutions and design appropriate backward and forward linkages. A majority of activities are in line with government schemes and work towards developing market linkages. How far do these spin beyond the obvious and lead to empowerment of women in economic and social spheres? From what we saw, women are quite vocal, articulate, and knowledgeable about the economic activities. We were unable, however, to fathom the extent of impact of creating this space for women, on household and social dynamics. From discussions we understood that these issues are rarely discussed in formal meetings of PRADAN – be it schooling of children (limited options after class five), health concerns, or political representation (in NBA areas we saw a conscious efforts in the Mandleshwar area to promote women as Sarpanch). Would it be correct to say that through working with women, on almost an individual basis and through a very efficient approach of economic empowerment, PRADAN is successful in enhancing women’s capacities and confidence, so much that without any formal engagement in social aspects, women themselves are able to exercise their initiative to resolve issues within their own contexts?

The issue of creation of formal spaces for addressing social issues notwithstanding, what PRADAN is doing is clearly not a ‘mere’ economic intervention. It is consciously breaking several social and economic barriers and enabling women explore spaces which they might never have had – as producers, as owners, as entrepreneurs.

Hugely influenced by the NBA experience, we were left wondering if it might be necessary for PRADAN to relate to a wider range of issues beyond the creation of livelihoods. The villages are located in a very vulnerable belt. The dam and missile proof testing range (and ordinance factory a few kilometres away) have displaced people from their residences and livelihoods. The sanctuary and even a possible oil find by ONGC threaten to displace even further. People are apparently aware of these, though the nature of information and understanding varies from person to person. The lingering question is are they (or even PRADAN) equipped to cut through the web of limited and often misleading information which typically accompanies such projects and invest time, energy, resources into the struggle. PRADAN does not have a stated policy on intervening in this sphere, though the position taken sounds like - if displacement is effected there will be efforts to negotiate suitable rehabilitation and resettlement, rather than obstruct displacement per se. The strength comes from people having developed skills and capacities and organised into formations, which make them less vulnerable. Perhaps when the time comes, they will come together and work towards better bargains.

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NARMADA BACAHO ANDOLAN, MADHYA PRADESH

‘It was a humbling experience’ - a cliché that came to mind, as Bhagaban bhai said “good night” and drove off in the jeep. We waved and left to take the short walk to the comfortable hotel room. He, to share a floor with his comrades, their numbers changing every night, in a modest accommodation in Khandwa. Bhagaban bhai, fondly called ‘dada’, is among the foot soldier-cum-generals of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, himself displaced by the Sardar Sarovar project. NBA as the movement is popularly known, is a platform on which, for about two decades now, indigent and exploited farmers of the Narmada valley have been struggling against the organized attempts to deprive them of their life, as they have known it. Different versions or interpretations of NBA and its work are available across the world, the version changing to suit the needs of the person hearing it. The purpose here is not to add a new version, but put down a few vignettes on what we saw and experienced during our travels around the Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh, in the company of a few NBA activists, visiting villages and meeting people who have been part of the struggle.

Woh baandh jo nahi bani

We started with Mandleshwar, the town where the group based themselves between 1997 and 2004, taking part in a struggle to stop the Sri Maheshwar Hydro Electric Project. This project – a large dam across the Narmada and a power generation unit – would have resulted in the complete displacement of 61 villages along the river. Activists of NBA responded to calls for help from the communities in the area and helped organize a movement, leadership of which was taken by the local communities themselves, particularly the women. In the convoluted environment created by the MP State government and its private partner for the project, the movement had to latch on to every crutch of straw to survive and eventually emerge victorious. Using a world-wide network of supporters; a series of non-violent tactics demonstrating collective strength; and laying siege to offices of financial institutions committed to the project, the movement was able to get the powers-that-be to abort the project, at least for the time being.

Lepa is the village closest to the proposed dam on the left bank of the river. Naturally, a village at the forefront of the struggle. Lepa also has to itself the credit of having supplied a large number of full-time activists to NBA. The time of the year (farming season) and day (mid-day) we visited, meant that we could not meet many of the stalwarts of the struggle, busy as they were in their fields, tending the kharif crop. The few we spoke to vividly articulated how they took rallies out in Mandleshwar, filling the jails, Bhopal, Delhi. They gathered in thousands, blocked trucks carrying materials to the proposed dam site, kept vigil for months.

Mardana, the other village we visited in the Maheshwar dam affected area also had its share of leaders. Notable among them is Susilabai, fondly called Patlen Ma. She is also now the Sarpanch of Mardana gram panchayat. She is very clear that but for the active role women played in the Maheshwar struggle, the movement could not have been so successful. On what could happen if the work on the dam is revived (rumours of which are rife in the area – not entirely baseless, the State government has recently given another guarantee to the project promoters, a textile group called S Kumar’s; there is some talk of resuming work on the dam in December 2005) she was clear, “Build the dam? Over our dead bodies.”

This part of Nimar region (consisting of the four districts of Burhanpur, Khandwa, Khargone and Badwani), abundantly favoured by the Narmada is among the most fertile and productive areas of Madhya Pradesh state. Farmers grow crops of cotton, lentils, soybean, wheat, sugarcane and banana. Farm incomes are very high, the local labour markets are thriving and people generally contented. Poverty as we understand – the absolute type (landlessness, food insecurity) – is not really an issue here. Farmers are hardworking, even entrepreneurial, who realise only too well what this land and water means to them. Their struggle is over for now, but they continue to contribute a fraction of their annual harvest, to help NBA continue the struggle over other dams proposed over the Narmada.

Such a region has a lot to lose from an obtuse plan like that of the Maheshwar project. Designed to produce 400 MW of electricity from a water source whose measurements are at best dubious, the project is part of the even more obtuse Narmada Valley Development plan. This plan envisages building three large dams, 30 medium and 3000 small ones across Narmada and its tributaries turning this life-giving, dynamic and revered mother river into a series of static, life-less reservoirs, all in the name of development. Development, of the already developed; irrigation, to the already cash-crop raising lands; power for ever hungry industries, and displacement and deprivation, of the poor badly in need of some development not displacement. Alas, that is not to be.

The Maheshwar dam struggle is a remarkable chapter in the history of the poor people’s struggle for controlling own destinies. The struggle in the villages of Khandwa district that we visited next was grimmer, a struggle to delay the inevitable and not stop it.

Fighting impending doom

The Indira Sagar project, once also known as Narmada Sagar, is the second largest dam built across the Narmada as part of the hare-brained Narmada Valley Development Plan. Its claim to fame (as advertised by a leaflet printed by the public sector undertaking that runs the project) is that it has created the largest reservoir in the whole of Asia, and has enough concrete in it to build a highway from Delhi to London. Construction of the dam is almost complete up to the sanctioned height of 245 metres (above MSL). The Japan-built electronically controlled gates of the dam span the next 17 metres taking the total height of the dam to 262 metres. Calculations made by several experts show that the net effect of the stored water would exceed 267 metres or in some cases even 272 metres. However, all plans regarding submergence to be caused by the waters and resettlement of affected people are done based on the 262 metres standard.

The immediate struggle that people from 91 villages are fighting against is pressing the button that will put the large Japanese gates of the dam in place. These 91 villages will submerge as soon as the gates are closed, taking the total water storage to 262 metres (or 267 or 272, take your pick). They continue to stay where they are as they have not received the compensation, due to them. Some have received compensation for agricultural land that has been submerged, but that happened even when the water was at 245 metres. Even this compensation was meagre, valuing very productive crop lands at Rs.40 or 60 thousand per acre. Similar land elsewhere in the area would cost not less than Rs.1.25 lakhs or so, if one wants to buy it.

Activists of NBA had visited the villages 15 or 17 years ago when the dam plans were being drawn up, including Gelgaon. Gelgaon was then 21 kilometres from the Narmada, and the villagers were not willing, at that time, to buy the argument that the waters of the dam would submerge their land and houses. The activists, faced with lack of interest from the communities soon to be affected could not force the issue further and went back to their struggle in the areas affected by the Sardar Sarovar dam (the largest of the umpteen Narmada valley dams, affecting poor people in the three States of MP, Gujarat and Maharashtra; benefiting water guzzling industries of Central and South Gujarat; still the greatest vote catching weapon for politicians in Saurashtra and Kutch; also the most known aspect of Narmada Bachao Andolan).

The town of Harsud was in news during the monsoons of 2004. Residents of the town were forcibly evacuated by the government, fearing submergence from the Indira Sagar waters and resettled in the village of Chanera, now called New Harsud. Those who have seen this new settlement vouch to the barbarity of the action of the State; waterlogged residential area with very little basic facilities; worst of all, no access to any means of livelihood, even wage labour. What happened in Harsud, and the knowledge of their impending fate with monsoon 2005 goaded people from the 91 villages to approach NBA for help. From January 2005, the State government has been making public announcements, through newspaper reports, radio announcements, village visits by police, asking people to move out of their villages before July 2005. But where to and how, no response!

NBA activists started mobilizing the villagers, and collecting information about the situation. A Public Interest Litigation writ, supported by a 400 page document containing information about the villages and actions of the government so far, is filed before the MP High Court in Jabalpur. The case was being heard by a two-judge bench of the court during the time of our visit to Khandwa. Villagers of Bijaura, Muhunia Khurd, Muhunia Kala, Chalpi and Gelgaon – those whom we met in the course of our travel displayed two emotions at the same time –fear of the end that is so near that you can feel it around the corner, but also resolve to fight till that end comes. The latter aided beyond measure by words and actions of Bhagaban bhai and his ilk from NBA.

Their struggle is not just against the insensitivity of the rulers, who consider the poor farmers dispensable in the pretentious development path that they promote. There is complete subversion of natural justice in the way resettlement and compensation plans are drawn up. The Narmada Hydro Development Corporation (NHDC – the public sector undertaking that runs the dam) pays Rs.20 thousand to every family that opts not to accept the 540 square metre resettlement plot offered to them by the company. It then advertises for sale of house plots in New Harsud (ostensibly to dam oustees) of 540 sq. m at Rs.210 thousand. So if any ousted family chooses to buy a plot in New Harsud it has to pay the company more than ten times the compensation they were given, by the same company.

What takes the cake however, is God himself. Adjacent to the villages of Chalpi and Gelgaon is the settlement of Sri Singaji. Legend has it that this revered god like figure left his foot prints at a place near this settlement and over the years these footprints became a worship place. A former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, of the Congress party, who visited the area refused to make any investment to save the temple built there, from submergence. His helicopter could not take off till he got down and begged forgiveness from Singaji, or so the local lore goes. The person who replaced him as Chief Minister had no doubts about her priorities. As soon as she assumed power, she sanctioned Rs.8 crores (or 9) for building structures that would save the foot prints from submergence. Nearing completion now is a 2 kilometre long elevated road (about 5 metres wide, soil excavated from the sides filled to a height of about 15 metres, the slopes on the sides dressed with stone) and at the end of the road a concrete cylindrical structure about 15 metres in diameter, 40 or 52 metres high. At the bottom of this cylinder remains the footprints at their original location, devotees would be able to see it from 40 (or 52) metres above through a series of optical devices.

God saved by humans, now he seems incapable of saving them in return! The courts built and run by human beings are now to determine if the people of the 91 villages will get an opportunity to leave with dignity, justice done towards them, and not have to run away from the soil where generations of them lived and died, overnight, like fugitives.

Two days after our visit, the MP High Court ruled in favour of the villagers, by staying closing of the dam shutters beyond three metres. While this is an immediate reprieve for NBA the struggle has only begun. Several thousands of individual cases will now have to be followed up with the administration, cases of wrong awards of compensation, of left out lands, of wrong valuations and the like. For the villagers, ahead are days of more struggles – as Bhagaban bhai puts it, “Khandwa mein dera baithana padega” – set up residence in Khandwa. Slowly NBA activists have started mobilizing the villagers for the struggle that lies ahead.

Andolan se Nirman

Away from the bustle of protest marches, sieges and court cases the Andolan is also engaged in working with village communities in an effort to demonstrate alternate approaches to natural resource management, that are community managed and controlled and more relevant to the needs of the poor. We visited the villages of Jamniapani and Rupkheda in Khargone district where such work is underway. Rupkheda is a remarkable example of self-help; people have managed to do for 60 thousand rupees work conventionally worth more than seven times that, all through voluntary contribution of labour. In the past 3 years or so, the people have built 12 earthen bunds, 130 boulder gully checks and several hundred sand bag dams. These measures have helped in increasing the water level in the wells and this has helped farmers to raise a second crop, mostly of wheat. Increased focus on protecting trees has increased green cover in the village. Following Rupkheda, more villages in the area have come forward to do similar work. Jamniapani is one of them. Work started here only very recently. In 4 days time people have built an earthen bund that will help harvest water from a catchment area of about 20 hectares. More such structures are being planned for after the monsoon season.

Unlike conventional watershed development projects that deploy technically trained personnel, work in Rupkheda has been done entirely by local youth. They received exposure and technical training at different places and with very little external support have gone on to create some very strong and useful water harvesting structures. All this is being demonstrated in villages which are in the command area of the Veda dam project – areas touted to benefit from the additional irrigation available due to the dam. These villages are beginning to demonstrate that they can do the same and even better by less expensive and less damaging methods.

Two sides of the same coin

A recurring theme during our short tour around the Narmada, watching results or processes of the Andolan, was the perceived dichotomy of struggle for rights and ‘constructive’ work. How and when such dichotomisation happened is worth exploring. However, it is worthwhile to note that even to a hardcore activist like Bhagaban bhai, these two are not separate issues. He is clear that both are two sides of the same coin, and one cannot happen without the other. Wish more development theorists and academics would listen to this!

At the level of grassroots activists of NBA there is a fairly strong recognition of the need for demonstrating alternate approaches for issues on which they oppose the conventional, mainstream approaches. However, they seem to be caught within a tight warp they have built for themselves; that of an activists’ approach to more constructive work. To what extent this is valid or not can only be proven with time, but we had this strong feeling that there is a lot of groping in the dark. Alternate approaches will have to encompass all aspects of the strategy, not just the way outcomes are defined. It is fine for a people’s movement like NBA to not accept institutional financing, but constructive work like watershed development requires high levels of investments that are probably beyond the scope of individual contributions. It would be worthwhile to see how the whole movement comes of out this and similar contradictions that it is faced with today.

Challenges to sustaining the momentum

As we finish our short immersion in the swirl around Narmada we carry back more than these facts. Some eye-opening experiences, some questions, and testimonies to the courage, grit and dedication of some very ordinary people of the Narmada valley!

We wonder whether similar collective action is possible in areas that we are familiar with, Orissa and Jharkhand. Though not in such humungous scale, displacement caused by “development” projects are as much a reality there as it is in the Narmada valley. We could identify some very obvious difference between most parts of Orissa and the Nimar region – people are much more progressive in Nimar; agriculture is much more evolved; there is not the spectre of food insecurity and large scale migration, that haunts the poor of Orissa; much more developed mechanisms towards meeting basic needs are in place.

The poor of Orissa, particularly the adivasis are today facing increased pressure from the government to give up claims over lands that they live off and surrender these to fulfil interests of industrialising the State. Over the past half a decade or so, we have seen several attempts to organise the affected communities and help them raise their voice against the injustice but, with very little results. We cannot but agree wholeheartedly when Radheyshyam of NBA says, “bhuke pet pe andolan sambhav nahi hai” – such struggles are not possible on empty stomachs!

A significant part of NBA’s attention is also on generating awareness among the people on issues related to the power sector. It has taken a position opposing the widespread attempts to privatise core infrastructure services. As part of the struggle against Maheshwar dam project, NBA had successfully lobbied for the establishment of a taskforce to look at the viability of the project and also at alternatives. A large volume of work done as part of this taskforce was later to be used as inputs for a mass awareness campaign. However the thick of work at the Indira Sagar affected villages have put paid to these plans, at least for now.

Securing rights, to social transformation

The strength of the mobilisation process that NBA has followed around the issue of dams, displacement and resettlement was very visible in all the villages we visited. Particularly in the Maheshwar dam area – the economically progressive portions of Khargone districts – several larger social issues remain. Consider these: girl children seldom study beyond class five, particularly when they have to travel to schools outside their village; marriage age for girls is as early as 12 years. And contrast it with the high level of participation of women in the anti-dam agitation, the leadership roles women have played. Is it yet another example of regressive social structures accompanying economic progressiveness, like Punjab and Haryana?

Social transformation needs a deeper and more sustained level of engagement than what a rights based approach, with its singular goal-setting seems to provide for. It needs more people, more resources, a great deal of intermediation and continuous engagement with communities to challenge contradictions and entrenched socio-political systems within them. Is it possible for communities having realised their rights in some form, to wrest control and effect transformation in other realms of socio-political systems as well?

Several questions on the efforts at such social transformation persist, most good enough to cause discomfiture. Bhagaban bhai acknowledges the need for such action and the limitations of the current approach. Ever optimistic, we are reminded of his favourite maxim, “Jahan kum, wahan hum”!

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Consolidating experiences as development professionals

Taking a distance

Looking back, the choice to work with voluntary organizations in the field of rural development was, for both of us something that we did not consciously plan for. In the overwhelming mainstream this was not an option that was considered and discussed as we went through the phase of ‘education’ and thinking about our careers. Yet, with several influences along the way, there was a sub-conscious build up of the values and orientations as well an understanding of the possibilities that existed in engaging in a meaningful manner in the arena of rural development.

The education in IRMA was in many ways a turning point, for some of the discourses that we were exposed to engaged with, but more importantly for the opportunity to engage directly, grapple with and attempt to understand the complex issues that are involved in poverty and underdevelopment.

Post IRMA we have both been working with established NGOs – initially with ADITHI in Bihar and for about six years now with Gram Vikas in Orissa. Both have used a variety of strategies and interventions to engage with the contexts that they have chosen to intervene in. Yet there are some areas where both organizations demonstrate fundamental similarities and some others where they are very different. It is these experiences that have influenced our thinking and shaped our perspectives. We have also in the process been exposed peripherally to the practices of other organizations and individuals.

Working with large established organizations has its advantages, but also its limitations. The greatest limitation being that they are established, used to certain ways of analysis and responses. While new ideas and new ways of thinking are encouraged, they are limited by the routine functions that often tend to dominate available energies. Secure in our jobs there is also this ‘zone of comfort’ that we seem to be settling into, which is disturbing in its own way.
At this point, the main reason why we feel we should take this time out is to consolidate experiences so far, for our own understanding. The process will help us in distilling our thoughts on what we have seen so far, what we have tried to do, and what we have not tried yet.

In the process we will also make an effort to document them in a manner that is useful for individuals involved in working with the voluntary/ rural development sector in general.

Areas of enquiry

There are two key areas where we would like to focus on at this stage. There may be more ideas as we go along, but our preliminary thoughts are to explore the issue of -‘professional management’ vs. ‘social activism’ - is the dilemma real? We have been confronted by this issue time and again in the course of the work, and would like to analyze and understand this dilemma to some extent.

Another area that has substantively dominated our work in the past years is quality of life. We’d like to explore if “threshold quality of life” is a necessary precondition for sustained social change. Are there sufficient examples on ground to substantiate this?

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