The wages of protest
Arundhati Dhuru & Dr Sandeep
Pandey
[To read in Hindi language , click here ]
[Published
in THE HINDU, 5 April 2009]
------------------------------------------------------
While the RTI Act and the audit provisions of NREGA
enable ordinary people to demand accountability from governments, it doesn't
always work like that on the ground. There have been several cases recently in
U.P., where the demand for rights by workers has been met with
violence…
The political
ruling class has decided to deal with the demands being raised by workers for
their legal rights strongly.
The advent of the Right to Information (RTI) Act
and the National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act (NREGA) were a breakthrough in Indian democracy. They provided
the
openings in a system which was opaque, insensitive and impersonal to the common
citizens of this country. The ruling elite which was not prepared to be
answerable to people at all had to relent. They realised that, after all, they
are functioning in a democracy which is created in the name of the people.
People began asking questions under the RTI Act and started conducting social
audits under NREGA, which were revolutionary ideas given the kind of system we
have inherited from the British and given the mindset bureaucracy develops when
it is entrenched in this system. People did achieve success using the RTI and
the social audit provision and a definite empowerment was taking place.
However, it looks as if it's been
decided that enough is enough. People could be allowed the luxury of only so
much transparency and accountability. They could not transgress the limit
beyond
which the unquestioned supremacy of the ruling elites stood to be challenged.
The initial fear in their minds towards these pro-people laws has vanished and
now they are dealing with people demanding their basic rights under these Acts
with vengeance. They have decided to quell every voice which raises questions
about their highhandedness with utmost contempt and violence if necessary. The
administrative machinery, which is supposed to be responsible for implementing
these laws, is being used by the people's representatives with
impunity.
Plenty of
discrepancies
In the Dumri
Village Panchayat of Kasya Block of Kushinagar district of U.P., what started
as
an investigation into the discrepancies in Below Poverty Line survey, on a
complaint made by some villagers, turned into a full fledged investigation
into bungling in development funds
which came through the Panchayat. Discrepancies were observed by an Assistant
Commissioner in the Rural Development Department in the housing schemes for
poor
as well as NREGA. Advocate Udaybhan Yadav, who was instrumental in getting this
investigation done, was threatened by the Gram Pradhan Dinesh Verma and his
men.
On February 28, 2009, when the men of Gram Pradhan were beating a dalit
labourer
Parasuram, who was vocal in questioning the fake muster roll in which wages
were
withdrawn in his name whereas he had not even worked under NREGA, Udaybhan
intervened. He was also beaten up. A dalit, Kapil Dev, receiving patronage from
the Pradhan, registered a FIR against Udaybhan and a case under (Prevention of)
Atrocities against S.C./S.T. Act was filed. Under political pressure, Udaybhan
and his father Hari Yadav were arrested on March 9. Parasuram's brother Ram
Bharat and father Jaikaran were also arrested but released later.
Fight for wages
In the village Panchayat Aira Kake
Mau of Bharawan Block of Hardoi District, workers had assembled on January 14,
2009, at the door of the Gram Pradhan as previously agreed, to seek their
unpaid
wages. The husband of the Gram Pradhan, Ghanshyam, who runs the show here on
behalf of his wife, first tried to threaten the labourers. The police arrived
when the situation became tense. When the workers wanted to file complaints
against the Gram Pradhan for violation
of their rights under the NREGA, Ghanshyam ordered his men to rain lathis on
the
labourers and social activists present there in support of the workers in the
presence of the Station House Officer and the police of Atrauli Police Station.
One dalit labourer, Medai, and a social activist, Ram Bharose, sustained
injuries on the head. Although a case was filed against Ghanshyam, in spite of
repeated applications to various authorities by dalit labourers who were
present
at the site of incident, (Prevention of) Atrocities against S.C./S.T. Act has
not been used against Ghanshyam and no action has thus far been taken against
him.
In Kopaganj Block of Mau
district, labourers from the villages Devkali, Bishunpur, Purana Kopa and
Jairamgarh, mostly women and dalit, had assembled at the office of the Block
Officer, merely eight km from the district headquarters, to demand wages due
for
the last six months. One of the labourers was called inside the office for
dialogue and beaten up by those inside. The labourers were furious. The Block
Development Officer, Ram Dular and an employee, Sanjiv Singh, had to bear the
brunt of the anger. Some women also got hurt in this scuffle. Full wages have
still not been paid and nobody involved in beating the worker has been
punished.
In the village
Panchayat Rura of Kasmanda Block of District Sitapur, a pond deepening work was
in progress on February 28, 2009. Some women labourers wandered off to drink
water from a hand pump. The hand pump belonged to a powerful person from the
locality, Madan Dixit, popularly know as Madan Muni in this area. The women had
to face obscene comments. When the male members of the families wanted to
register their protest against these obscene remarks, they were beaten up. When
the workers reached the police station to file a case against their tormentors,
Madan Muni was already there. The workers wanted to register a case under the
(Prevention of) atrocities against the S.C./S.T. Act. The police asked them to
come next morning in an attempt to arrive at a compromise. When the workers
were
unmoved from their demand the next day, two men and two women labourers were
beaten by the police inside the police station. premises. With the help of
social organisations of the area a case was finally registered against Madan
Muni under the (Prevention of) atrocities against the S.C./S.T. Act but no
action has been taken against the police personnel who were involved in beating
the workers.
Underpaid
In the Cholapur Block of District Varanasi,
about 200 workers belonging to Dhaurahra, Saryan and Munari were not paid their
wages for about a month for deepening a pond in Saryan G.P. The Junior Engineer
had measured the work and calculated payment of wages at the rate of Rs. 39.80
per day. The workers were not satisfied as for similar work in Dhaurahra G.P.
workers were paid the minimum wages of
Rs. 100 per day. On February 26, 2009, the Village Development Officer gave in
writing that all workers would be paid at the rate of Rs. 100 per day on March
3, 2009. When the workers assembled on March 5, at the Block Office, the BDO
was
absent. On the advice of a Block employee they decided to block the
Varanasi-Azamgarh Highway. The SHO of Cholapur P.S. arrived and the workers
were
lathi-charged quite mercilessly. About 50 people including approximately 10
women were badly hurt. Heerawati, who was pregnant, was also hurt. The SHO took
20 people and 50 bicycles with him to the police station and the workers were
released on personal bonds. When asked as to what action he would take against
the VDO for violating the legal rights of workers under NREGA by not paying the
wages, the SHO said he was merely following the orders from the higher ups. He
refused to reveal the name of the officer who had ordered lathi charge. The
next
day, wages at the rate of Rs. 42 per day were transferred into the accounts of
the labourers.
The repression
of workers is now emerging as a trend. The political ruling class has decided
to
deal with the demands being raised by workers for their legal rights strongly.
The workers will be punished. The ruling elites realise that these demands
ultimately will lead to a clamour for a more equitable society and wider and
deeper participation of workers in the decision making process in our
democracy.
They do not want to give away this power easily. The above-mentioned incidents
also indicate that the workers are now getting better organised than before.
NREGA has at
least helped achieve that. We hope that the problems of workers will be
resolved
within the constitutional framework peacefully and will lead to further
democratisation of society and government.
Arundhati Dhuru & Dr Sandeep
Pandey
[Published in THE HINDU, 5 April
2009]
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