In the poorest part of Jharkhand, community radio has become an important instrument for the development of neglected communities. If access to their own media were freer, the villagers believe, things could be even better. Pratibha Jyoti reports on the progress made even without government support for community stations.
14 March 2005 - The villagers of the Angada Block in Jharkhand's Ranchi district had for long been asking for the basic facility of a school - an appeal that had been expressed, until now, through letters and invitations to the local administration and the government. What finally drew the attention of Savra Lakra, the MLA of the Khijli Vidhan Sabha, was a play performed by the villagers on the dire need for schools in the village. This programme was aired on FM Ranchi, as part of a community radio initiative in Angada Block, on the day of its inauguration on 31st October 2004. It forced the legislator to come all the way and promise the villagers that they will soon have schools in their village.
As Etwa Bedia, the field coordinator of the Community Radio initiative, enthuses, "The villagers have been given a new life with this initiative. The Community Radio has become a tool through which the villagers can now have their voices heard by the policy makers." "Radio is a medium that is cheap and has an excellent reach. Most villagers already have or have now bought a radio set. It is our forum where we can reflect on our every need and problem," says Malya Bedia, a resident of one of the villages.
Initiated by Charkha Development Communication Network, this Delhi-based NGO aims to empower the rural poor and the disadvantaged communities and to articulate voices that highlight the local issues to the opinion leaders and policy makers. Initially as part of a Pilot Project Community Radio initiative in Jharkhand, in association with the regional partner, Manthan Yuva Sansthan, a need-based study was conducted of selected community people, who were then trained to develop and design a half hourly radio programme in a magazine format. As Mohammad Shakeel, the Associate Coordinator of Manthan, explains, "It is the villagers themselves who choose the issues to be aired in a programme". The residents of these 17 villages are not only the listeners, but also the directors of and performers in this half-hour programme.
It is the villagers themselves who choose the issues to be aired in a programme. The residents of these 17 villages are not only the listeners, but also the directors of and performers
The popularity of the show is evident by the fact that every Sunday at 6:30 pm the villagers are glued to their respective radio sets and small transistors. Expressed through issue-based plays, folk songs, development news and discussions, the initiative has made the residents not only socially aware but has also made them confident enough to take their local issues and challenges to the concerned officials. The final script is anchored by the two sutradhars -Etwari Behan (in the voice of Rita) and Somra Bhai (narrated by Ramdhan Bedia).
Now it is through radio that news on various government schemes, Panchayati Raj and news on rural development, is being aired in the local dialect of Panch parganiya. The villagers now know the number of houses being made under the Indira Awas Yogana and the quantity of food grain being distributed among shopkeepers under the public distribution system.
Rita, one of the narrators, begins her day by practicing her script, for which she has to walks down a whole 3 kms, to the Mungadih village. "Since the day community radio has entered the village, the inequality between the men and women of this village has lessened. When Manthan approached me with the suggestion to present the programme, my husband and mother-in-law were totally against it. But I had made my decision and quietly came for the recording of the programme. Now my husband is very proud of me," grins Rita.
As Rita explains, earlier the women of the village were hesitant to discuss their personal problems and local issues. But the community radio has given them a platform to share their views confidentially and seek guidance on the same.
But why Angada block? Sudhir Pal, the local coordinator of the community radio initiative, explains, "Despite the formation of the new state, none of the villages have witnessed much positive change. But Angada is such a block, where none of the development work has yet reached. Here people do not have even the basic facilities of roads, electricity, education and basic health care.
The community radio initiative is a platform for these voices of the marginalised, which will help the community to fulfill their needs and aspirations." Moreover, the block is placed strategically, for the nearest town to the region is the capital city of Ranchi, which is also the political seat of the state.
Statistics show that this block is one of the poorest and the most backward regions of Jharkhand. Here, of a total population of 1 lakh people, 45% are scheduled castes, and 15% are scheduled tribes. Sustaining themselves on forest and farming, the residents, with difficulty, grow crops of wheat and Marua, for there is just one source of irrigation, which is the hand pump. Although many hand pumps have been built in the region, only one or two actually have a water connection. Under such circumstances, rainwater becomes the more viable option for the farmers. There is one PDS shop that opens rarely and that too only for few hours. For the past 20 years, one can see electricity poles, but till today the villagers are yet to witness the electricity connection.
In such a situation, the community radio - a social, cultural and political tool - has become an important instrument for the development of the marginalised communities. "The impact of the community radio shall be greater when the government gives organisations and communities the access and the freedom to own radio stations. One cannot hope for much social change until community radio enjoys the same freedom as does the television, newspapers and other magazines," comments Charkha Chairperson, Shankar Ghose.
There are many obstacles to the growth of the radio, he explains. In 1995, P.B. Savant, the noted Supreme Court Judge had claimed that the public had full right over the airwaves. Despite this, Prasar Bharti still has control over the free airwaves. In the process, one needs to have a license for the community radio and the process to acquire it is so complex that one needs to gain permission from at least four Ministries (Home, Defence, Human Resource and Foreign). The Broadcasting Review Bill, which has not been cleared for the past four years, can bring new hope to more initiatives such as these, in every district of every state. Meanwhile, one may only hope that the sounds of silence in the Angada Block, Ranchi are broken for good by the voices from the marginalised. (Charkha Features)
references: http://www.indiatogether.org/
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Making ends meet - Neeta Deshpande
07 November 2009 - When Devilal Tadvi of the Adivasi village of Gadkoi in Gujarat first saw the site of the Sardar Sarovar dam located about twelve kilometres from his home, a singular thought crossed his eager mind. When would the mighty Narmada water his small field? Little did he know, that not only would he get no water from the dam in the future, but that he wouldn't have much agricultural land left either.
Devilal's father Jatanbhai had already lost seven and a half acres to the dam's main canal in the early eighties. With only four acres left over that was partitioned between Jatanbhai and his four sons, Devilal's share was less than an acre. Though Gujarat Government officials promised the family adequate cash compensation when they acquired the land, they soon reneged on their sugar-coated assurances. Eventually, Jatanbhai was paid a meagre Rs.2800 an acre, impoverishing him with a stroke of a pen, for life.
Government officials also promised that all four of his sons would be employed, but only one son was hired as a clerk in a State Bank branch in the colony built for dam engineers and staff. Now Devilal was forced to work as a labourer on other people's farms, pulling out weeds all day for a tiny payment. When dry, merciless summers arrived, he had to leave home for Surat, to sweat and slog at construction sites in inhospitable conditions. But he still had hope that the Government would compensate his family for the land it had so unjustly usurped, that it would provide them Narmada waters to irrigate the fields which buttressed their lives. The compensation money never came. Nor did the water
Jatanbhai is one of thousands of farmers who lost land to the canal network of the dam, much touted as Gujarat's lifeline. The 1992 report of the Independent Review commissioned by the World Bank - which initially sanctioned a loan of $450 million for the Sardar Sarovar Projects (SSP) - puts the figure of land-owning farmers with titles who would become landless or be left with less than two hectares, at about 14,000. The report further states that based on discussions with affected families, in many regions, one title holder is equal to three or four families.
Yet, despite being uprooted from their fields, these farmers were not recognized as project-affected, and thus, not even entitled to resettlement. Instead, their lands were acquired under the Land Acquisition Act at ridiculously low rates, steeping their lives in penury for generations to come.
Jatanbhai tells the story of his loss with a straight face. His voice is calm, his words matter-of-fact: "Only when I saw them measuring other fields in the area, I found out that I'd lose mine too. They cut my standing groundnut crop. We had to feed it to our livestock. They said they'd compensate me. But they never did. After I signed the papers, the police warned me not to go to my field. What could I have done? They'd already started digging up my land with a bulldozer. Should I have sat with my head in my hands and cried?"
While lands in his area were being measured for acquisition, Jatanbhai was struck by another grave tragedy. When his sister-in-law underwent a tubectomy, his wife decided to follow suit. After asking her husband's permission, she boarded a motor vehicle for the Government hospital some 25 kilometres away. She was given an injection for anesthesia, says Jatanbhai, after which she passed away. Did he ask the doctor what happened? "The doctor had no explanation", he replies. "He only said: nasha ho gaya." Soon after, Jatanbhai pulled his children out of school, and resolved to bring them up without a mother's care. At the time, his youngest son was only three.
When he lost his mother, Devilal - the third son - was still in the seventh standard. Today, his eyes reflect his emotions when he recalls his school days. "I never had new clothes or books. Through my schooling, I wore my older brother's clothes, read from his used textbooks. We never had enough money for food, leave alone clothes. And when my father couldn't manage the expenses anymore, what option did I have? My classmates from better families continued to study, and secured jobs, as teachers, clerks or nurses. But I couldn't ..." he trails off.
Devilal, who would have been a farmer in his own right, was now forced into a life of labour to profit others, leaving him to struggle for the basic necessities of life. When agricultural work was unavailable during the summer months, he had no choice but to leave his village in a desperate bid to find work, any work. The only employment that came his way: the inhuman grind of a construction labourer. He prepared cement mixture for plastering walls, sprinkled water over buildings, lifted unbearably heavy bags of cement - the lot of an animal of burden.
His contractors would not allow him to sleep in the buildings he built for fear of theft, so he had to make the adverse footpaths his home for the nights. "My fingers had injuries", he remembers, "and the contractor would abuse me with insulting words. Arranging food was difficult, and I've had to go hungry for a day or two. My life has been very difficult. But if I don't suffer, how will my children eat?"
A few years down the line, Devilal was afflicted by a severe attack of malaria. The disease took its toll - he was ill for an entire six months. He vowed never to return to the city again. Later in 1984, he applied to the same Government Hospital where his mother had died a most unfortunate death, for a job as a nurse. He was selected, but an official kept his order pending for two months. Then, as expected, the official demanded a bribe: a thousand rupees. Devilal went from one relative to another in a desperate attempt to borrow money. When he failed to raise it, his competitor secured the position.
His brother's application for the position of a security guard in the Secretariat at Gandhinagar also fell through. The people in charge hired their relatives, and Devilal's brother, without any connections in the right places, didn't even stand a chance.
Later in the mid-eighties, Devilal took up work in an office of Jaiprakash Associates, contractors for the very dam which had uprooted him from his ancestral livelihood. For twelve years, he swept and mopped their office, and served water and tea to the staff who built the dam that had ruined him for good. He was paid Rs.22 a day. How did he manage household expenses? "You have to eat less", he answers simply. "Grain, tea and oil cost money." This from a man, whose family at one time lived off their own land.
When asked, he animatedly lists nine different crops his father once used to grow. Now Devilal can only grow tur and maize. How did he feel having to sweep and mop floors dirtied by others? "I had to", he replies without hesitation. "What else could I have done?"
Unable to make ends meet with twenty-two rupees a day, Devilal and other employees formed a union, and in the early nineties, demanded a raise. For an entire month, the workers went without wages, waiting patiently for a fair recompense. But life had a cruel twist in store which they could never have imagined. The leader of their union was bribed. The organisation fell apart. Devilal went back to work, serving tea with a straight face. Five years later, he was told there was no work for him. "Sab labour ki chutti kar di", he says. "Kam hi nahin tha."
Back to removing weeds on other people's farms, Devilal now earns a meagre Rs.30 a day for nine hours of exhausting labour. "Everything is so expensive", he complains. "A kilo of oil costs eighty rupees, a kilo of rice costs sixteen. There are six people to eat in my house, with my wife and four daughters. I'm the only one who earns. If I'm late by an hour because of household difficulties or rains, my employer sends me back home. What can I do? I live a very tough life."
Despite the tremendous odds, Devilal is confident that he will manage to survive, a skill he has learnt the hard way. What is eating at him though, is the question of his daughters' future. The responsibility of their marriages weighs heavily on his mind today. Each wedding will cost about half a lakh of rupees, he explains. With less than one acre of land, how is he to raise such a large amount? He has no choice but to mortgage his land for Rs.20,000.
And then, despite his resolute decision, it would be time again for him to return to the city he had fled, this time taking his wife along with him. The couple would have to leave their daughters behind, perhaps at the house of a relative, where they could labour on farms to survive. Taking his young daughters to the city is not safe, he knows. If he earns enough, it would still take him several years to pay back his mortgage.
The risk of losing his only acre of land, along with a life of back-breaking, dehumanising labour, stares Devilal in the face today. His only hope: compensation for the land that was commandeered from him so brutally, and water from the spectacular dam to quench his leftover field. With neither possibility in sight, Devilal must return to a city which glitters with a million lights, yet leaves his life condemned to darkness.
Reference : http://www.indiatogether.org/2009/nov/
Neeta Deshpande is a freelance writer based in Bangalore. This article is part of a series on uprootment and survival in the Narmada valley. Names of persons in this article have been changed
Devilal's father Jatanbhai had already lost seven and a half acres to the dam's main canal in the early eighties. With only four acres left over that was partitioned between Jatanbhai and his four sons, Devilal's share was less than an acre. Though Gujarat Government officials promised the family adequate cash compensation when they acquired the land, they soon reneged on their sugar-coated assurances. Eventually, Jatanbhai was paid a meagre Rs.2800 an acre, impoverishing him with a stroke of a pen, for life.
Government officials also promised that all four of his sons would be employed, but only one son was hired as a clerk in a State Bank branch in the colony built for dam engineers and staff. Now Devilal was forced to work as a labourer on other people's farms, pulling out weeds all day for a tiny payment. When dry, merciless summers arrived, he had to leave home for Surat, to sweat and slog at construction sites in inhospitable conditions. But he still had hope that the Government would compensate his family for the land it had so unjustly usurped, that it would provide them Narmada waters to irrigate the fields which buttressed their lives. The compensation money never came. Nor did the water
Jatanbhai is one of thousands of farmers who lost land to the canal network of the dam, much touted as Gujarat's lifeline. The 1992 report of the Independent Review commissioned by the World Bank - which initially sanctioned a loan of $450 million for the Sardar Sarovar Projects (SSP) - puts the figure of land-owning farmers with titles who would become landless or be left with less than two hectares, at about 14,000. The report further states that based on discussions with affected families, in many regions, one title holder is equal to three or four families.
Yet, despite being uprooted from their fields, these farmers were not recognized as project-affected, and thus, not even entitled to resettlement. Instead, their lands were acquired under the Land Acquisition Act at ridiculously low rates, steeping their lives in penury for generations to come.
Jatanbhai tells the story of his loss with a straight face. His voice is calm, his words matter-of-fact: "Only when I saw them measuring other fields in the area, I found out that I'd lose mine too. They cut my standing groundnut crop. We had to feed it to our livestock. They said they'd compensate me. But they never did. After I signed the papers, the police warned me not to go to my field. What could I have done? They'd already started digging up my land with a bulldozer. Should I have sat with my head in my hands and cried?"
While lands in his area were being measured for acquisition, Jatanbhai was struck by another grave tragedy. When his sister-in-law underwent a tubectomy, his wife decided to follow suit. After asking her husband's permission, she boarded a motor vehicle for the Government hospital some 25 kilometres away. She was given an injection for anesthesia, says Jatanbhai, after which she passed away. Did he ask the doctor what happened? "The doctor had no explanation", he replies. "He only said: nasha ho gaya." Soon after, Jatanbhai pulled his children out of school, and resolved to bring them up without a mother's care. At the time, his youngest son was only three.
When he lost his mother, Devilal - the third son - was still in the seventh standard. Today, his eyes reflect his emotions when he recalls his school days. "I never had new clothes or books. Through my schooling, I wore my older brother's clothes, read from his used textbooks. We never had enough money for food, leave alone clothes. And when my father couldn't manage the expenses anymore, what option did I have? My classmates from better families continued to study, and secured jobs, as teachers, clerks or nurses. But I couldn't ..." he trails off.
Devilal, who would have been a farmer in his own right, was now forced into a life of labour to profit others, leaving him to struggle for the basic necessities of life. When agricultural work was unavailable during the summer months, he had no choice but to leave his village in a desperate bid to find work, any work. The only employment that came his way: the inhuman grind of a construction labourer. He prepared cement mixture for plastering walls, sprinkled water over buildings, lifted unbearably heavy bags of cement - the lot of an animal of burden.
His contractors would not allow him to sleep in the buildings he built for fear of theft, so he had to make the adverse footpaths his home for the nights. "My fingers had injuries", he remembers, "and the contractor would abuse me with insulting words. Arranging food was difficult, and I've had to go hungry for a day or two. My life has been very difficult. But if I don't suffer, how will my children eat?"
A few years down the line, Devilal was afflicted by a severe attack of malaria. The disease took its toll - he was ill for an entire six months. He vowed never to return to the city again. Later in 1984, he applied to the same Government Hospital where his mother had died a most unfortunate death, for a job as a nurse. He was selected, but an official kept his order pending for two months. Then, as expected, the official demanded a bribe: a thousand rupees. Devilal went from one relative to another in a desperate attempt to borrow money. When he failed to raise it, his competitor secured the position.
His brother's application for the position of a security guard in the Secretariat at Gandhinagar also fell through. The people in charge hired their relatives, and Devilal's brother, without any connections in the right places, didn't even stand a chance.
Later in the mid-eighties, Devilal took up work in an office of Jaiprakash Associates, contractors for the very dam which had uprooted him from his ancestral livelihood. For twelve years, he swept and mopped their office, and served water and tea to the staff who built the dam that had ruined him for good. He was paid Rs.22 a day. How did he manage household expenses? "You have to eat less", he answers simply. "Grain, tea and oil cost money." This from a man, whose family at one time lived off their own land.
When asked, he animatedly lists nine different crops his father once used to grow. Now Devilal can only grow tur and maize. How did he feel having to sweep and mop floors dirtied by others? "I had to", he replies without hesitation. "What else could I have done?"
Unable to make ends meet with twenty-two rupees a day, Devilal and other employees formed a union, and in the early nineties, demanded a raise. For an entire month, the workers went without wages, waiting patiently for a fair recompense. But life had a cruel twist in store which they could never have imagined. The leader of their union was bribed. The organisation fell apart. Devilal went back to work, serving tea with a straight face. Five years later, he was told there was no work for him. "Sab labour ki chutti kar di", he says. "Kam hi nahin tha."
Back to removing weeds on other people's farms, Devilal now earns a meagre Rs.30 a day for nine hours of exhausting labour. "Everything is so expensive", he complains. "A kilo of oil costs eighty rupees, a kilo of rice costs sixteen. There are six people to eat in my house, with my wife and four daughters. I'm the only one who earns. If I'm late by an hour because of household difficulties or rains, my employer sends me back home. What can I do? I live a very tough life."
Despite the tremendous odds, Devilal is confident that he will manage to survive, a skill he has learnt the hard way. What is eating at him though, is the question of his daughters' future. The responsibility of their marriages weighs heavily on his mind today. Each wedding will cost about half a lakh of rupees, he explains. With less than one acre of land, how is he to raise such a large amount? He has no choice but to mortgage his land for Rs.20,000.
And then, despite his resolute decision, it would be time again for him to return to the city he had fled, this time taking his wife along with him. The couple would have to leave their daughters behind, perhaps at the house of a relative, where they could labour on farms to survive. Taking his young daughters to the city is not safe, he knows. If he earns enough, it would still take him several years to pay back his mortgage.
The risk of losing his only acre of land, along with a life of back-breaking, dehumanising labour, stares Devilal in the face today. His only hope: compensation for the land that was commandeered from him so brutally, and water from the spectacular dam to quench his leftover field. With neither possibility in sight, Devilal must return to a city which glitters with a million lights, yet leaves his life condemned to darkness.
Reference : http://www.indiatogether.org/2009/nov/
Neeta Deshpande is a freelance writer based in Bangalore. This article is part of a series on uprootment and survival in the Narmada valley. Names of persons in this article have been changed
Lalgarh: Deprived of a peace of life - Soma Mitra
13 August 2009 - Lalgarh (WFS) - Once a decrepit block of West Bengal, Lalgarh in West Midnapore district has turned into a battlefield. Over the last few months, hundreds of women have taken to the streets shouting slogans as they march in processions of protest.
Why has this happened? Why have ordinary women found it necessary to pick up arms? At one level, Lalgarh is a turf war between the Communist Party India (Marxist), the People's Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCPA) and the insurgent Maoists. At another, it is also about a troubled community fighting for survival and the simple necessities of life, such as potable water and education for their children.
We are deprived of clean drinking water, we are deprived of proper schools and, frankly speaking, the government has done nothing for us. We have no other way but to revolt against the government," says Shashi Murmu, 28, of Mulapara village. Her mother, Tara, 51, who has also taken up arms, adds, "For a long while, we have been deprived of everything. We have decided that from now we will fight the government." There are about 600 families at Mulapara in the Shalboni block of East Midnapore district where the Jindal Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is slated to come up. And almost all the families there highlight the same woes as Shashi and Tara
Surprisingly, the women do not appear scared of any police reaction that their protests may invite. Police atrocity is nothing new for the villagers of these areas, who state that the police indiscriminately pick up villagers whenever there is a Maoist attack. In fact, the men who flee from the villages as soon as combined operations are announced and the women are left to face the wrath of the security forces. While the police claim that they do not generally pick up women for interrogation, people here have no recourse should they find themselves treated harshly and unjustly. They don't have access to legal support, for instance.
Government agencies were shaken once images of women with arms began flooding the media recently. Some weeks ago, the state government decided to send a six-member delegation to assess the actual situation on the ground. The experience of this delegation was a major eye-opener. "I was shocked to see many are yet to get ration cards. People who should rightly have been enlisted as Below the Poverty Line (BPL) are listed as Above Poverty Line (APL)," R D Meena, Secretary, Backward Classes Welfare, a delegate, is reported to have
Says Gouri Mahato of Domahani village, "The panchayat (village council) had assured my family of job cards under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) scheme two years ago but that has not happened till date." The NREGA provides a legal guarantee for 100 days of employment in every financial year to adult members of any rural household willing to do public work-related unskilled manual work for a statutory minimum wage.
Gouri's family had five bighas (One bigha = 0.4 hectare) of land. But the family was forced to sell it off when her mother fell critically ill. The mother had to be taken to a Kolkata hospital for treatment as the Lalgarh health centre had no doctor on duty. So a job card means a great deal to Gouri's family.
But, perhaps, Gouri, with no job card, is better off than Krishna Halder, who was issued a job card under NREGA two years ago. Even though Krishna was lucky enough to have the prized card, she had been issued only 14 days of work over the last two years. In a world where Krishna has to struggle to make ends meet for her family, her job card did not help. The daily struggle of life took its toll on the family. Krishna saw her son joining the PCPA and later on the Maoists before being taken into police custody.
Earlier these villages of West Midnapore district were the stronghold of the CPI(M). However, despite numerous promises and 33 years of Left rule, Lalgarh has yet to get a proper irrigation system and, in the absence of other necessary infrastructure, a large section of people here are still dependent on forest produce for their livelihood.
Take the case of Mohua Baskey, who goes into the forest every day at about five in the morning to collect 'kendu pata' (leaves used to roll tobacco to make indigenous cigarettes or 'beedis'). Her 14-year-old daughter accompanies her on this daily two kilometre walk to the forest to supplement the family's meagre income. The early morning toil and subsequent trip to the market only result in a meager Rs.15 to Rs.20 each day, for their family of four.
One can't help wondering why Mohua is not getting her daughter educated. "There is a school in our locality. Besides, if I allow my daughter to go to school our income would be reduced by half," says Mohua in the matter-of-fact manner. Ironically, every year the government sanctions millions for developmental projects in these backward areas of the state but the fund remains unutilised.
For instance, in the last financial year, Rs.5,000 million was sanctioned for the development of Paschimanchal (western range of the state) Development Affairs. This area is largely under the control of the Maoists and includes parts of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia. Only Rs 350 million of this amount has been used till date, according to the state's budget statement of 2009-10.
The people of Lalgarh are heavily dependent on the Public Distribution System (PDS) for their daily nourishment and the government is required to make available PDS supplies of foodgrain at reasonable prices to consumers. But corruption has brought the local PDS system to the verge of collapse.
Take the case of the around 400 families in Gopalpur village, all of whom have ration cards. As these families are listed as BPL they are supposed to get 25 kilograms of rice at a rate of Rs.2.50 a month. However, villagers complain that ration dealers say they are entitled to only 10 kilograms of rice a month. Furthermore, it is said that the ration dealers have not returned to the villagers their ration cards. Hunger now has begun to stalk their lives: Mayarani Hul, 62, of village Amlasoli, recently lost her only son to malnutrition.
Not many perceive the human tragedy that has given rise to the culture of violence that marks Lalgarh today. Even women, who have never been in the forefront of such agitations, have now taken to violence simply to draw attention to the violation of their rights as citizens of this country. (Women's Feature Service) ⊕
Reference : http://www.indiatogether.org/2009/aug/hrt-lalgarh.htm
Soma Mitra is freelance journalist based in Kolkata
Why has this happened? Why have ordinary women found it necessary to pick up arms? At one level, Lalgarh is a turf war between the Communist Party India (Marxist), the People's Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCPA) and the insurgent Maoists. At another, it is also about a troubled community fighting for survival and the simple necessities of life, such as potable water and education for their children.
We are deprived of clean drinking water, we are deprived of proper schools and, frankly speaking, the government has done nothing for us. We have no other way but to revolt against the government," says Shashi Murmu, 28, of Mulapara village. Her mother, Tara, 51, who has also taken up arms, adds, "For a long while, we have been deprived of everything. We have decided that from now we will fight the government." There are about 600 families at Mulapara in the Shalboni block of East Midnapore district where the Jindal Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is slated to come up. And almost all the families there highlight the same woes as Shashi and Tara
Surprisingly, the women do not appear scared of any police reaction that their protests may invite. Police atrocity is nothing new for the villagers of these areas, who state that the police indiscriminately pick up villagers whenever there is a Maoist attack. In fact, the men who flee from the villages as soon as combined operations are announced and the women are left to face the wrath of the security forces. While the police claim that they do not generally pick up women for interrogation, people here have no recourse should they find themselves treated harshly and unjustly. They don't have access to legal support, for instance.
Government agencies were shaken once images of women with arms began flooding the media recently. Some weeks ago, the state government decided to send a six-member delegation to assess the actual situation on the ground. The experience of this delegation was a major eye-opener. "I was shocked to see many are yet to get ration cards. People who should rightly have been enlisted as Below the Poverty Line (BPL) are listed as Above Poverty Line (APL)," R D Meena, Secretary, Backward Classes Welfare, a delegate, is reported to have
Says Gouri Mahato of Domahani village, "The panchayat (village council) had assured my family of job cards under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) scheme two years ago but that has not happened till date." The NREGA provides a legal guarantee for 100 days of employment in every financial year to adult members of any rural household willing to do public work-related unskilled manual work for a statutory minimum wage.
Gouri's family had five bighas (One bigha = 0.4 hectare) of land. But the family was forced to sell it off when her mother fell critically ill. The mother had to be taken to a Kolkata hospital for treatment as the Lalgarh health centre had no doctor on duty. So a job card means a great deal to Gouri's family.
But, perhaps, Gouri, with no job card, is better off than Krishna Halder, who was issued a job card under NREGA two years ago. Even though Krishna was lucky enough to have the prized card, she had been issued only 14 days of work over the last two years. In a world where Krishna has to struggle to make ends meet for her family, her job card did not help. The daily struggle of life took its toll on the family. Krishna saw her son joining the PCPA and later on the Maoists before being taken into police custody.
Earlier these villages of West Midnapore district were the stronghold of the CPI(M). However, despite numerous promises and 33 years of Left rule, Lalgarh has yet to get a proper irrigation system and, in the absence of other necessary infrastructure, a large section of people here are still dependent on forest produce for their livelihood.
Take the case of Mohua Baskey, who goes into the forest every day at about five in the morning to collect 'kendu pata' (leaves used to roll tobacco to make indigenous cigarettes or 'beedis'). Her 14-year-old daughter accompanies her on this daily two kilometre walk to the forest to supplement the family's meagre income. The early morning toil and subsequent trip to the market only result in a meager Rs.15 to Rs.20 each day, for their family of four.
One can't help wondering why Mohua is not getting her daughter educated. "There is a school in our locality. Besides, if I allow my daughter to go to school our income would be reduced by half," says Mohua in the matter-of-fact manner. Ironically, every year the government sanctions millions for developmental projects in these backward areas of the state but the fund remains unutilised.
For instance, in the last financial year, Rs.5,000 million was sanctioned for the development of Paschimanchal (western range of the state) Development Affairs. This area is largely under the control of the Maoists and includes parts of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia. Only Rs 350 million of this amount has been used till date, according to the state's budget statement of 2009-10.
The people of Lalgarh are heavily dependent on the Public Distribution System (PDS) for their daily nourishment and the government is required to make available PDS supplies of foodgrain at reasonable prices to consumers. But corruption has brought the local PDS system to the verge of collapse.
Take the case of the around 400 families in Gopalpur village, all of whom have ration cards. As these families are listed as BPL they are supposed to get 25 kilograms of rice at a rate of Rs.2.50 a month. However, villagers complain that ration dealers say they are entitled to only 10 kilograms of rice a month. Furthermore, it is said that the ration dealers have not returned to the villagers their ration cards. Hunger now has begun to stalk their lives: Mayarani Hul, 62, of village Amlasoli, recently lost her only son to malnutrition.
Not many perceive the human tragedy that has given rise to the culture of violence that marks Lalgarh today. Even women, who have never been in the forefront of such agitations, have now taken to violence simply to draw attention to the violation of their rights as citizens of this country. (Women's Feature Service) ⊕
Reference : http://www.indiatogether.org/2009/aug/hrt-lalgarh.htm
Soma Mitra is freelance journalist based in Kolkata
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Need to strengthen climate diplomacy -
25 October 2009 - The mean temperature at global climate negotiations is rising sharply, mirroring the thermometer in many parts of the mostly developing world. The UN Framework Convention Climate Change (UNFCC) has, in a carefully timed release for the forthcoming negotiations over the extension of the Kyoto Protocol in Copenhagen this December, shown how industrial countries have in fact been increasing their emissions.
It says: "Data submitted to the UNFCCC show that greenhouse gas emissions of the 40 industrialised countries that have reporting obligations under the Convention rose by one per cent from 2006 to 2007." Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, says, "The continuing growth of emissions from industrialised countries remains worrying, despite the expectation of a momentary dip brought about by the global recession. ... The numbers for 2007 underscore ... the urgent need to seal a comprehensive, fair and effective climate change deal in Copenhagen in December."
One of the most unfortunate developments in the build-up to Copenhagen is Western countries' antipathy to India's so-called obduracy in not being pro-active on this issue. Witness a recent article in the Economist, reflecting conservative elite opinion in Europe: "India says that it will accept only a limit on emissions per person that matches rich countries. That is so easily satisfied that it is no condition at all." All very well for the smug condescension of this weekly, but they need to be reminded that the average Indian emits only 1.3 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, while the world average is 4.4 and the average American is responsible of 20 tonnes per year. What cuts have rich industrial countries accepted in the first place?
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh's letter to the PM, which the media exposed this week, clearly indicates that India should pull out of the Kyoto Protocol, which the US hasn't ratified, although it has signed the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change along with 190 other countries. The first phase of the protocol, a convention instrument, ends in 2012. He also proposes that India should undertake voluntary cuts without first demanding funding and technology for such actions, as the protocol specifies. The protocol imposes emission cuts only for industrial countries and penalties for violations
All these shifts are in direct contradiction to India's oft-repeated policy of insisting that, as the UN agreements specify, there ought to be 'common but differentiated responsibility' for taking action on mitigating climate change. Indeed, at least during the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and till recently, India articulated this position on behalf of G77 countries.
New strength to Indian arguments
One reason for the poor international image of India as a deal-breaker is the absence in the public discourse of analysis to bolster India's argument, unlike China which has gone to town with its pledges to cut the carbon-intensity of its economy (though not by how much). A welcome departure in this regard is an "Overview of India's Energy Trends: Low carbon Growth and Development Challenges" bought out by the research and analysis group Prayas in Pune in September, with Indian collaborators in Stanford University and IIT Madras
At the outset, it sets the problem in context: "India's contribution to climate change presents a daunting challenge for development. India is the fourth largest emitter of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions after China, the United States and Russia, contributing about five per cent of total emissions in 2007. But it is also home to a third of the world's poor ... Even by 2020, with almost a fifth of the world's population, its share is expected to rise to only 7 per cent, according to the International Energy Agency's Reference Scenario. The Indian government has been uncompromising in its aversion to allowing climate considerations to slow its economic growth. Yet, within the country, growth has largely benefited the middle and upper classes, with hundreds of millions remaining in poverty."
Among its main findings:
India's energy-related emissions need to grow to alleviate poverty and raise living standards, but the extent of this need is uncertain. Business-as-usual trends do not favour the poor's development, nor do they sufficiently exploit co-benefit opportunities between climate mitigation and equitable development.
Despite reliance on coal, India is on a low carbon growth path due to low and declining energy intensity, and significant growth in carbon-free electric capacity. Some of the key drivers include high industrial energy prices, energy efficiency improvements in select industries, and inherently low-carbon lifestyle patterns, such as vegetarianism and high use of non-motorized modes and public transportation.
In the near future, the recent trends of declining energy and carbon intensity seem likely to continue. However, they are weakened by unsustainable patterns of development, such as high passenger vehicle growth. Government policies offer mixed support for these trends, for example, with promising initiatives in demand reduction and renewable energy growth on the one hand, but continued neglect of persistent inefficiencies in electricity supply on the other.
It is revealing, to see why India is already pursuing a low-carbon path in comparison to both the US and China:
Renewable energy's share of total electric capacity is more than twice that of the US, and India is among the top five countries in renewable capacity.
India's carbon and energy use per unit of GDP are both already below that of the US and China, and seem to be on a decreasing trend.
India had about 12 vehicles per 1000 people in 2007 compared to over 800 in the US. Bus, rail and non-motorized modes of transportation continue to have the largest share of passenger travel, unlike the US, where substantially more carbon-intensive modes such as private automobiles are dominant.
Industrial electricity tariffs are the highest in the world, on average. Gasoline and diesel prices are higher than those in the US and China, even in market exchange terms.
Indians consume only 1/11th of the meat eaten by an average Chinese and 1/25th of that eaten by an American, implying correspondingly lower greenhouse gas emissions associated with the sector.
In the three sectors Prayas reviewed - industry, transport, and housing - industrial energy intensity is a declining. Energy use in housing and transport were found to have relatively low intensity in comparison to the US, EU and China. This is driven by a number of factors, including structural shifts in the economy towards less energy-intensive activities, and efficiency improvements in energy-intensive industries. Because of the rapid growth of services at a rate well above industry growth and overall GDP, its contribution to the economy has grown from 44 per cent in 1990 to 52 per cent in 2005
If growth in services continues to outpace that of industry," notes Prayas, "energy intensity will continue to decline. Relatively high industrial energy and electricity prices have also disciplined energy growth, resulting in a steady reduction in the energy intensity of industries."
cites how households in India have one-third the energy intensity of American households with the same expenditure - adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP). The high density of urban spaces forces people to live in small homes, which take less energy to build and to cool. Twenty nine percent of India's urban population lives in homes of less than 540 square feet. Despite growing meat consumption, India's aggregate meat consumption is a mere fraction of that of the US and China. The carbon impacts of the meat industry are known to be significant; the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) estimates that direct and indirect emissions (including land use change) from the livestock sector contribute 18 percent of global emissions
How do all these indices dovetail with India's development dilemmas? Of the 1.2 billion of the world's poor in 2005, over a third live in India, who comprise 40 per cent of the country's population. "Raising the living standards of almost half a billion people to decent levels, let alone to those enjoyed by middle income families, remains a daunting challenge," observes Prayas. Almost half of rural India lives in houses made from biomass, mud or unburned bricks, with little or no sanitation and poor access to drinking water. Over 70 per cent of India's population relies on traditional fuels (such as biomass) to cook.
"Over 40 per cent of India's population lacks electricity access and use kerosene for lighting. Only one-sixth of those using electricity consume over 100 kWh per month, compared to the average US household consumption of over 900 units per month. The per capita consumption of electricity of India at 481 kWh is less than a fifth of the world average of 2596 kWh. Widening access and meeting other development goals will, therefore, entail a substantial increase in generation capacity, even with improvements in utilization efficiency.
India's emissions mirror its average income level. Despite being the second most populous country in the world, India has less than a quarter of carbon dioxide and total greenhouse gas emissions of the leading emitters of the world, China and the United States, in both annual and per capita terms… The electric capacity required to provide India's 450 million poor with the basic electricity services share of this minimum is less than 8 per cent of the US electric supply."
Given the common perception that India has a low-cost economy, it may come as somewhat of a surprise to learn that retail prices of petrol (gasoline) in PPP terms have been about more than four times those of the US and almost double of those in China. Diesel prices in PPP terms were about three times those of the US and almost double those of China in 2006. Diesel prices have been on the rise since the government phased out the Administered Price Mechanism (APM), which subsidized diesel, and replaced it with the Market Determined Price Mechanism. Even in market exchange terms, the Super Gasoline prices in India in 2006 were about 1.5 times higher than the US and China prices
It is high time that instead of going on the back foot, as so many of our politicians, experts and negotiators are doing in the climate negotiations, or simply foot-in-mouth, as Jairam Ramesh is guilty of, we should simply make these facts better known, so that we have every reason to be proud that India is already well on the way to a low-carbon path.
Reference : http://www.indiatogether.org/2009/oct/env-lowcarb.htm
Darryl D'Monte, former Resident Editor of The Times of India in Mumbai, is Chairperson of the Forum of Environmental Journalists of India and founder President of the International Federation of Environmental Journalists
It says: "Data submitted to the UNFCCC show that greenhouse gas emissions of the 40 industrialised countries that have reporting obligations under the Convention rose by one per cent from 2006 to 2007." Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, says, "The continuing growth of emissions from industrialised countries remains worrying, despite the expectation of a momentary dip brought about by the global recession. ... The numbers for 2007 underscore ... the urgent need to seal a comprehensive, fair and effective climate change deal in Copenhagen in December."
One of the most unfortunate developments in the build-up to Copenhagen is Western countries' antipathy to India's so-called obduracy in not being pro-active on this issue. Witness a recent article in the Economist, reflecting conservative elite opinion in Europe: "India says that it will accept only a limit on emissions per person that matches rich countries. That is so easily satisfied that it is no condition at all." All very well for the smug condescension of this weekly, but they need to be reminded that the average Indian emits only 1.3 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, while the world average is 4.4 and the average American is responsible of 20 tonnes per year. What cuts have rich industrial countries accepted in the first place?
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh's letter to the PM, which the media exposed this week, clearly indicates that India should pull out of the Kyoto Protocol, which the US hasn't ratified, although it has signed the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change along with 190 other countries. The first phase of the protocol, a convention instrument, ends in 2012. He also proposes that India should undertake voluntary cuts without first demanding funding and technology for such actions, as the protocol specifies. The protocol imposes emission cuts only for industrial countries and penalties for violations
All these shifts are in direct contradiction to India's oft-repeated policy of insisting that, as the UN agreements specify, there ought to be 'common but differentiated responsibility' for taking action on mitigating climate change. Indeed, at least during the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and till recently, India articulated this position on behalf of G77 countries.
New strength to Indian arguments
One reason for the poor international image of India as a deal-breaker is the absence in the public discourse of analysis to bolster India's argument, unlike China which has gone to town with its pledges to cut the carbon-intensity of its economy (though not by how much). A welcome departure in this regard is an "Overview of India's Energy Trends: Low carbon Growth and Development Challenges" bought out by the research and analysis group Prayas in Pune in September, with Indian collaborators in Stanford University and IIT Madras
At the outset, it sets the problem in context: "India's contribution to climate change presents a daunting challenge for development. India is the fourth largest emitter of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions after China, the United States and Russia, contributing about five per cent of total emissions in 2007. But it is also home to a third of the world's poor ... Even by 2020, with almost a fifth of the world's population, its share is expected to rise to only 7 per cent, according to the International Energy Agency's Reference Scenario. The Indian government has been uncompromising in its aversion to allowing climate considerations to slow its economic growth. Yet, within the country, growth has largely benefited the middle and upper classes, with hundreds of millions remaining in poverty."
Among its main findings:
India's energy-related emissions need to grow to alleviate poverty and raise living standards, but the extent of this need is uncertain. Business-as-usual trends do not favour the poor's development, nor do they sufficiently exploit co-benefit opportunities between climate mitigation and equitable development.
Despite reliance on coal, India is on a low carbon growth path due to low and declining energy intensity, and significant growth in carbon-free electric capacity. Some of the key drivers include high industrial energy prices, energy efficiency improvements in select industries, and inherently low-carbon lifestyle patterns, such as vegetarianism and high use of non-motorized modes and public transportation.
In the near future, the recent trends of declining energy and carbon intensity seem likely to continue. However, they are weakened by unsustainable patterns of development, such as high passenger vehicle growth. Government policies offer mixed support for these trends, for example, with promising initiatives in demand reduction and renewable energy growth on the one hand, but continued neglect of persistent inefficiencies in electricity supply on the other.
It is revealing, to see why India is already pursuing a low-carbon path in comparison to both the US and China:
Renewable energy's share of total electric capacity is more than twice that of the US, and India is among the top five countries in renewable capacity.
India's carbon and energy use per unit of GDP are both already below that of the US and China, and seem to be on a decreasing trend.
India had about 12 vehicles per 1000 people in 2007 compared to over 800 in the US. Bus, rail and non-motorized modes of transportation continue to have the largest share of passenger travel, unlike the US, where substantially more carbon-intensive modes such as private automobiles are dominant.
Industrial electricity tariffs are the highest in the world, on average. Gasoline and diesel prices are higher than those in the US and China, even in market exchange terms.
Indians consume only 1/11th of the meat eaten by an average Chinese and 1/25th of that eaten by an American, implying correspondingly lower greenhouse gas emissions associated with the sector.
In the three sectors Prayas reviewed - industry, transport, and housing - industrial energy intensity is a declining. Energy use in housing and transport were found to have relatively low intensity in comparison to the US, EU and China. This is driven by a number of factors, including structural shifts in the economy towards less energy-intensive activities, and efficiency improvements in energy-intensive industries. Because of the rapid growth of services at a rate well above industry growth and overall GDP, its contribution to the economy has grown from 44 per cent in 1990 to 52 per cent in 2005
If growth in services continues to outpace that of industry," notes Prayas, "energy intensity will continue to decline. Relatively high industrial energy and electricity prices have also disciplined energy growth, resulting in a steady reduction in the energy intensity of industries."
cites how households in India have one-third the energy intensity of American households with the same expenditure - adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP). The high density of urban spaces forces people to live in small homes, which take less energy to build and to cool. Twenty nine percent of India's urban population lives in homes of less than 540 square feet. Despite growing meat consumption, India's aggregate meat consumption is a mere fraction of that of the US and China. The carbon impacts of the meat industry are known to be significant; the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) estimates that direct and indirect emissions (including land use change) from the livestock sector contribute 18 percent of global emissions
How do all these indices dovetail with India's development dilemmas? Of the 1.2 billion of the world's poor in 2005, over a third live in India, who comprise 40 per cent of the country's population. "Raising the living standards of almost half a billion people to decent levels, let alone to those enjoyed by middle income families, remains a daunting challenge," observes Prayas. Almost half of rural India lives in houses made from biomass, mud or unburned bricks, with little or no sanitation and poor access to drinking water. Over 70 per cent of India's population relies on traditional fuels (such as biomass) to cook.
"Over 40 per cent of India's population lacks electricity access and use kerosene for lighting. Only one-sixth of those using electricity consume over 100 kWh per month, compared to the average US household consumption of over 900 units per month. The per capita consumption of electricity of India at 481 kWh is less than a fifth of the world average of 2596 kWh. Widening access and meeting other development goals will, therefore, entail a substantial increase in generation capacity, even with improvements in utilization efficiency.
India's emissions mirror its average income level. Despite being the second most populous country in the world, India has less than a quarter of carbon dioxide and total greenhouse gas emissions of the leading emitters of the world, China and the United States, in both annual and per capita terms… The electric capacity required to provide India's 450 million poor with the basic electricity services share of this minimum is less than 8 per cent of the US electric supply."
Given the common perception that India has a low-cost economy, it may come as somewhat of a surprise to learn that retail prices of petrol (gasoline) in PPP terms have been about more than four times those of the US and almost double of those in China. Diesel prices in PPP terms were about three times those of the US and almost double those of China in 2006. Diesel prices have been on the rise since the government phased out the Administered Price Mechanism (APM), which subsidized diesel, and replaced it with the Market Determined Price Mechanism. Even in market exchange terms, the Super Gasoline prices in India in 2006 were about 1.5 times higher than the US and China prices
It is high time that instead of going on the back foot, as so many of our politicians, experts and negotiators are doing in the climate negotiations, or simply foot-in-mouth, as Jairam Ramesh is guilty of, we should simply make these facts better known, so that we have every reason to be proud that India is already well on the way to a low-carbon path.
Reference : http://www.indiatogether.org/2009/oct/env-lowcarb.htm
Darryl D'Monte, former Resident Editor of The Times of India in Mumbai, is Chairperson of the Forum of Environmental Journalists of India and founder President of the International Federation of Environmental Journalists
Breaking the silence - Kalpana Sharma
27 October 2008 - The economy is in meltdown mode and our political parties are in election mode. So even as those who cannot take it anymore are opting out of life altogether, old wounds are being opened again to ignite communal passions, resulting in the loss of life and injury to many who want to live. It is a time when it would be easy to panic, about one’s personal future and about the future of the country.
Yet, even at times of apparent madness, you hear sane voices that remind you that all is not lost; that there are still institutions that understand the silent emergencies that people face in ostensibly normal times.
A recent ruling by the Bombay High Court can be viewed as one of these positive flickers of hope. Unfortunately, despite the relevance of the judges’ comments, the case has had little coverage in the media.
Encouraging observations
In a ruling on a case of sexual harassment against a private sector company, the two-judge bench has made observations that would encourage women who face such problems but are afraid to talk about them.
A woman employee of an Indian company filed the case. She says her superior male colleague subjected her to harassment. Initially, she did not complain, as she was afraid of losing her job. But, she alleges, that the officer posted her out to another project site “for not cooperating” with him. Four years later, when the project failed to take off, all the other women employees were given the option of moving out except her. The harassment also continued.
In 2004, the woman finally complained to the State Women’s Commission and also to the District Collector. She also filed an FIR with the local police station. The women’s commission sent a notice to the company asking it to inquire into the woman’s complaint. The company appointed an enquiry officer, an advocate, to look into the complaint. The latter exonerated the officer against whom the complaint had been made. Within a week of his report, the woman was dismissed from service.
Even then she did not give up and went to the Labour Court and complained about unfair dismissal. The Labour Court upheld her appeal and directed the company to reinstate her last year. The company failed to comply with the Labour Court’s ruling.
If a woman who suffers sexual harassment speaks out, she faces the additional problem of not being employable as other companies might see her as some kind of “trouble-maker”.
The Bombay High Court’s ruling is important for a number of reasons. For one, it reminds us that the law of the land requires that work places where women are employed must institute a committee headed by a woman and consisting of at least 50 per cent of women members and a civil society representative to look into such complaints. In this instance, the company did not do this and instead appointed a single person to inquire into the matter.
Secondly, the case reminds us of the important role that women’s commissions can play in such cases. Women are often afraid to go directly to court. The women’s commission is often the first step. If the woman had not gone to the women’s commission, perhaps her case would never have reached the court. A woman who suffers sexual harassment is in a very lonely place. She is afraid to speak out for fear of losing her job. And if she does, she faces the additional problem of not being employable as other companies might see her as some kind of “trouble-maker”. As a result, most women silently bear harassment and sometimes voluntarily opt out of jobs or positions where they are harassed. The silence ensures that more of this kind of harassment continues.
Constitutional basis
However, even one such case breaks through the shroud of silence. The remarks of the two judges, Justice Ranjana Desai and Justice D Y Chandrachud, remind us of the basis on which the law of sexual harassment was formulated. It recognises women as having the same rights to life and liberty as any Indian citizen. And that to discriminate against them just because of their gender is to actually deny them that right. I quote below a part of the ruling in this case:
“The right to gender equality is intrinsic to the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution. The right to life comprehends the right to live with dignity. An affront to or the invasion of gender is destructive of the right of every woman to live with dignity. Article 15 of the Constitution, which contains a prohibition inter alia against discrimination by the State on the ground of sex is an emanation of that right. The provisions of the Constitution recognise gender equality as a fundamental right. Gender equality in all its dimensions is a basic human right which is recognised by and embodied in the provisions of the Constitution. The broad sweep of the human right to gender equality traverses every facet of the position of a woman in society. The right comprehends the preservation of the dignity of women. At a basic level, gender equality postulates protection of women against all those practices which invade upon the dignity of being and the privacy of the person. A dignified existence includes the right to earn one’s livelihood in conditions that are fair and gender neutral. A condition which operates to disadvantage a woman worker on the ground of gender is fundamentally anachronistic to the vision of our constitutional order. Gender as a concept has wider dimensions than sex. Gender equality postulates the realisation of societal values that travel beyond a mere notion of sexual equality. Gender in that sense denotes the realisation of every facet of personality that contributes to the fullness of life to which a woman is entitled.”
“Gender equality traverses every facet of the position of a woman in a society”. That is the key sentence. This is what women must hold on to and believe in as they fight for their rights as citizens. ⊕
Kalpana Sharma has been Chief of the Mumbai Bureau and Deputy Editor with The Hindu. Her opinions, which appear in a regular column with The Hindu, are concurrently published in India Together with permission.
Yet, even at times of apparent madness, you hear sane voices that remind you that all is not lost; that there are still institutions that understand the silent emergencies that people face in ostensibly normal times.
A recent ruling by the Bombay High Court can be viewed as one of these positive flickers of hope. Unfortunately, despite the relevance of the judges’ comments, the case has had little coverage in the media.
Encouraging observations
In a ruling on a case of sexual harassment against a private sector company, the two-judge bench has made observations that would encourage women who face such problems but are afraid to talk about them.
A woman employee of an Indian company filed the case. She says her superior male colleague subjected her to harassment. Initially, she did not complain, as she was afraid of losing her job. But, she alleges, that the officer posted her out to another project site “for not cooperating” with him. Four years later, when the project failed to take off, all the other women employees were given the option of moving out except her. The harassment also continued.
In 2004, the woman finally complained to the State Women’s Commission and also to the District Collector. She also filed an FIR with the local police station. The women’s commission sent a notice to the company asking it to inquire into the woman’s complaint. The company appointed an enquiry officer, an advocate, to look into the complaint. The latter exonerated the officer against whom the complaint had been made. Within a week of his report, the woman was dismissed from service.
Even then she did not give up and went to the Labour Court and complained about unfair dismissal. The Labour Court upheld her appeal and directed the company to reinstate her last year. The company failed to comply with the Labour Court’s ruling.
If a woman who suffers sexual harassment speaks out, she faces the additional problem of not being employable as other companies might see her as some kind of “trouble-maker”.
The Bombay High Court’s ruling is important for a number of reasons. For one, it reminds us that the law of the land requires that work places where women are employed must institute a committee headed by a woman and consisting of at least 50 per cent of women members and a civil society representative to look into such complaints. In this instance, the company did not do this and instead appointed a single person to inquire into the matter.
Secondly, the case reminds us of the important role that women’s commissions can play in such cases. Women are often afraid to go directly to court. The women’s commission is often the first step. If the woman had not gone to the women’s commission, perhaps her case would never have reached the court. A woman who suffers sexual harassment is in a very lonely place. She is afraid to speak out for fear of losing her job. And if she does, she faces the additional problem of not being employable as other companies might see her as some kind of “trouble-maker”. As a result, most women silently bear harassment and sometimes voluntarily opt out of jobs or positions where they are harassed. The silence ensures that more of this kind of harassment continues.
Constitutional basis
However, even one such case breaks through the shroud of silence. The remarks of the two judges, Justice Ranjana Desai and Justice D Y Chandrachud, remind us of the basis on which the law of sexual harassment was formulated. It recognises women as having the same rights to life and liberty as any Indian citizen. And that to discriminate against them just because of their gender is to actually deny them that right. I quote below a part of the ruling in this case:
“The right to gender equality is intrinsic to the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution. The right to life comprehends the right to live with dignity. An affront to or the invasion of gender is destructive of the right of every woman to live with dignity. Article 15 of the Constitution, which contains a prohibition inter alia against discrimination by the State on the ground of sex is an emanation of that right. The provisions of the Constitution recognise gender equality as a fundamental right. Gender equality in all its dimensions is a basic human right which is recognised by and embodied in the provisions of the Constitution. The broad sweep of the human right to gender equality traverses every facet of the position of a woman in society. The right comprehends the preservation of the dignity of women. At a basic level, gender equality postulates protection of women against all those practices which invade upon the dignity of being and the privacy of the person. A dignified existence includes the right to earn one’s livelihood in conditions that are fair and gender neutral. A condition which operates to disadvantage a woman worker on the ground of gender is fundamentally anachronistic to the vision of our constitutional order. Gender as a concept has wider dimensions than sex. Gender equality postulates the realisation of societal values that travel beyond a mere notion of sexual equality. Gender in that sense denotes the realisation of every facet of personality that contributes to the fullness of life to which a woman is entitled.”
“Gender equality traverses every facet of the position of a woman in a society”. That is the key sentence. This is what women must hold on to and believe in as they fight for their rights as citizens. ⊕
Kalpana Sharma has been Chief of the Mumbai Bureau and Deputy Editor with The Hindu. Her opinions, which appear in a regular column with The Hindu, are concurrently published in India Together with permission.
Mothers and motherhood
It is indeed ironic that in a society where motherhood is virtually deified, we pay so little attention to making sure that women don't die in the process of becoming mothers, writes Kalpana Sharma.
29 January 2009 - In the recent Hollywood film directed by Clint Eastwood, Changeling, actress Angelina Jolie plays the role of Christine Collins, a telephone operator in Los Angeles, California, whose nine-year-old son, Walter, disappears while she is at work. The story, set in the 1920s, brings out not just the callousness of the police department, who refuse to investigate for 24 hours insisting that the child will turn up, but also the attitude of the police towards single mothers like Christine.
When another boy is produced after a few months, and she refuses to accept that he is her son because she can clearly see that he is not, she is told by the police that she is purposely not accepting the child because she has got used to her 'freedom' from motherhood. She is also accused of being a bad mother for having left her child alone in the house. In today's America, it is unlikely that any police department would go on record with such outrageous statements even if individual policemen might still think along these lines.
The film reminds us of the constant challenge that women face as they shoulder the primary responsibility of motherhood. In our context in India, it is also a reminder that just the process of becoming mothers, of producing children, is fraught with grave risk for millions of women.
Last fortnight, several newspapers carried stories on this reality on their front pages. The unlikely stories about maternal mortality, given that such news rarely merits any serious attention from the media, was prompted by the release of UNICEF's 2009 State of the World's Children report. Amongst other facts, the report reminded us that 1500 women die every day in the world due to complications arising during pregnancy and childbirth. The chances of a woman in developing countries dying before or during childbirth are 300 times greater than for a woman in an industrialised country like the U.S. Such a gap does not exist in any other social indicator.
Dismal scene
The largest number of maternal deaths in the world is in South Asia. In India alone, an estimated 141,000 women die each year during pregnancy or childbirth. This is a result of a variety of factors: child marriages where girls give birth before their bodies are ready; poverty and poor nutrition that results in high levels of anaemia in pregnant women; unsafe abortions by women who are unable to access legal facilities; unattended deliveries; often in unhygienic conditions, leading to infections and complications; and unavailability of affordable healthcare post delivery to ensure that the mother and child pull through the first hours and days.
One of the abiding mysteries of our country is why, when our growth rate is still reasonably high despite the global recession, is our progress so slow in ensuring that millions of women do not die in the process of something as routine as giving birth.
The solution has been known for years. The problem is the will to make it work. We also know that the solution would benefit everyone, not just women. Yet, affordable and accessible health care, for instance, has not received the thrust that is needed. Despite efforts to increase the number of women who can have trained help during delivery, one in every four women in India who was pregnant or delivered a child received absolutely no care in the last five years. The chances of such women developing complications, and even dying in the process, are extremely high.
The UNICEF report underlines the need to improve not just health delivery but many other aspects of living that would benefit the larger community. For instance, the absence of safe water and sanitation has a direct impact on poor women who are pregnant. Even if they survive the pregnancy and childbirth, they risk infection and even death because of the conditions in which they live and deliver.
The UNICEF report contains little that is not already known. But one of the important points it emphasises is the importance of creating what it calls a "supportive environment" for maternal and newborn health ...
"Creating a supportive environment for maternal and newborn health requires challenging the social, economic and cultural barriers that perpetuate gender inequality and discrimination. This involves several key actions: educating women and girls and reducing the poverty they experience; protecting them from abuse, exploitation, discrimination and violence; fostering their participation and their involvement in household decision-making and economic and political life; and empowering them to demand their rights and essential services for themselves and their children. Greater involvement of men in maternal and newborn health care and in addressing gender discrimination and inequalities is also critical to establishing a supportive environment."
Cultural issue
What this underlines is that reducing maternal mortality is not just a technical matter - that of providing enough trained help for women during delivery, or access to healthcare during pregnancy. It also means taking steps that would make our society as a whole more just and humane, where poverty will not exclude you from access to education and health, where gender will not deny you the right to participate in economic and political affairs, and where being a woman will be equivalent to being a human being who has rights and is valued by society.
It is indeed ironic that in a society where 'motherhood' is virtually deified, we pay so little attention to making sure that women don't die in the process of becoming mothers.
Reference : http://www.indiatogether.org/2009/jan/ksh-mother.htm
Kalpana Sharma has been Chief of the Mumbai Bureau and Deputy Editor with The Hindu. Her opinions, which appear in a regular column with The Hindu, are concurrently published in India Together with permission.
29 January 2009 - In the recent Hollywood film directed by Clint Eastwood, Changeling, actress Angelina Jolie plays the role of Christine Collins, a telephone operator in Los Angeles, California, whose nine-year-old son, Walter, disappears while she is at work. The story, set in the 1920s, brings out not just the callousness of the police department, who refuse to investigate for 24 hours insisting that the child will turn up, but also the attitude of the police towards single mothers like Christine.
When another boy is produced after a few months, and she refuses to accept that he is her son because she can clearly see that he is not, she is told by the police that she is purposely not accepting the child because she has got used to her 'freedom' from motherhood. She is also accused of being a bad mother for having left her child alone in the house. In today's America, it is unlikely that any police department would go on record with such outrageous statements even if individual policemen might still think along these lines.
The film reminds us of the constant challenge that women face as they shoulder the primary responsibility of motherhood. In our context in India, it is also a reminder that just the process of becoming mothers, of producing children, is fraught with grave risk for millions of women.
Last fortnight, several newspapers carried stories on this reality on their front pages. The unlikely stories about maternal mortality, given that such news rarely merits any serious attention from the media, was prompted by the release of UNICEF's 2009 State of the World's Children report. Amongst other facts, the report reminded us that 1500 women die every day in the world due to complications arising during pregnancy and childbirth. The chances of a woman in developing countries dying before or during childbirth are 300 times greater than for a woman in an industrialised country like the U.S. Such a gap does not exist in any other social indicator.
Dismal scene
The largest number of maternal deaths in the world is in South Asia. In India alone, an estimated 141,000 women die each year during pregnancy or childbirth. This is a result of a variety of factors: child marriages where girls give birth before their bodies are ready; poverty and poor nutrition that results in high levels of anaemia in pregnant women; unsafe abortions by women who are unable to access legal facilities; unattended deliveries; often in unhygienic conditions, leading to infections and complications; and unavailability of affordable healthcare post delivery to ensure that the mother and child pull through the first hours and days.
One of the abiding mysteries of our country is why, when our growth rate is still reasonably high despite the global recession, is our progress so slow in ensuring that millions of women do not die in the process of something as routine as giving birth.
The solution has been known for years. The problem is the will to make it work. We also know that the solution would benefit everyone, not just women. Yet, affordable and accessible health care, for instance, has not received the thrust that is needed. Despite efforts to increase the number of women who can have trained help during delivery, one in every four women in India who was pregnant or delivered a child received absolutely no care in the last five years. The chances of such women developing complications, and even dying in the process, are extremely high.
The UNICEF report underlines the need to improve not just health delivery but many other aspects of living that would benefit the larger community. For instance, the absence of safe water and sanitation has a direct impact on poor women who are pregnant. Even if they survive the pregnancy and childbirth, they risk infection and even death because of the conditions in which they live and deliver.
The UNICEF report contains little that is not already known. But one of the important points it emphasises is the importance of creating what it calls a "supportive environment" for maternal and newborn health ...
"Creating a supportive environment for maternal and newborn health requires challenging the social, economic and cultural barriers that perpetuate gender inequality and discrimination. This involves several key actions: educating women and girls and reducing the poverty they experience; protecting them from abuse, exploitation, discrimination and violence; fostering their participation and their involvement in household decision-making and economic and political life; and empowering them to demand their rights and essential services for themselves and their children. Greater involvement of men in maternal and newborn health care and in addressing gender discrimination and inequalities is also critical to establishing a supportive environment."
Cultural issue
What this underlines is that reducing maternal mortality is not just a technical matter - that of providing enough trained help for women during delivery, or access to healthcare during pregnancy. It also means taking steps that would make our society as a whole more just and humane, where poverty will not exclude you from access to education and health, where gender will not deny you the right to participate in economic and political affairs, and where being a woman will be equivalent to being a human being who has rights and is valued by society.
It is indeed ironic that in a society where 'motherhood' is virtually deified, we pay so little attention to making sure that women don't die in the process of becoming mothers.
Reference : http://www.indiatogether.org/2009/jan/ksh-mother.htm
Kalpana Sharma has been Chief of the Mumbai Bureau and Deputy Editor with The Hindu. Her opinions, which appear in a regular column with The Hindu, are concurrently published in India Together with permission.
Abortion law's grey zone: retarded mothers -Kamayani Bali Mahabal
Abortion law's grey zone: retarded mothers
The SC recently ruled that a 19-year-old Chandigarh-based mentally retarded girl must be allowed to carry on her pregnancy that was caused by sexual assault. The verdict throws open more questions than it answers, writes Kamayani Bali Mahabal.
14 August 2009 - Mumbai (WFS) - In India, a disabled girl-child is usually at the receiving end of a lot of contempt and neglect. Women with disabilities have been consistently denied their rights. In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court (SC) of India recently allowed a 19-year-old mentally challenged orphan girl to carry on with a pregnancy resulting from a sexual assault. The Punjab and Haryana High Court ruling had earlier ordered medical termination of pregnancy (MTP).
Giving the facts of the case, Advocate Colin Gonsalves who had argued for abortion in this case, said that the girl, who was kept at Nari Niketan, Chandigarh, a government institution for destitute women, was raped some time in March 2009 on the premises by the security guards. In May 2009, the pregnancy was detected. The media widely reported the rape but no institution or individual came forward in the woman's support.
"The SC judgment has focused more on pro-life arguments and the rights of the child," states Bhargavi Davar, who heads the Bapu Trust in Pune.
In the same month the Director of the Government Medical College and Hospital constituted a three-member board comprising a psychiatrist, a clinical psychologist and a special educator to evaluate the woman's mental status. Their report did not suggest anything out of the ordinary except that "she also cries almost daily". The board found her mental age to be nine years and placed her in the category of mild mental retardation.
A few days later, a four-doctor Multi Disciplinary Medical Board was constituted, which included a psychiatrist. It recommended an MTP. The Punjab and Haryana High Court ultimately went on the basis of these reports. The second one concluded that: "the continuation of pregnancy in this case can be associated with certain complications considering her age, mental status and previous surgery. There are increased chances of abortion... pre-maturity... foetal distress and more chances of operative delivery including anaesthetic complications."
The committees concluded that the woman "has adequate physical capacity to bear and raise the child but that her mental health can be further affected by the stress of bearing and raising her child."
This case thus raised fundamental issues relating to consent and to the support required while assessing consent. Eventually most mentally challenged women will, if properly supported, be able to indicate whether they wish to abort the pregnancy or proceed with it, concludes Gonsalves.
Shampa Sengupta, Director of the Sruti Disability Centre in Kolkata, says that if the woman wants to keep the baby she should be allowed to do so. "We as civil society must take the responsibility of supporting her. How can we forget the UN Rights of Persons with Disabilities Convention?" she asks.
Sengupta, who has worked on disability for the last 10 years, adds, "How can we say her choice is not valid? Because the doctors say so? If you or I do not consider the doctor's word as final, why should this young girl? Also, why is it that no one is talking about the rapists and how Nirmala Niketan came to have male employees?"
According to Bhargavi Davar, whether a mentally challenged woman has the 'capacity' to take care of the child is a question riddled with prejudices and stereotypes. Pic: WFS.
"The SC judgment has focused more on pro-life arguments and the rights of the child," states Bhargavi Davar, who heads the Bapu Trust in Pune, an organisation devoted to challenging the mindset and practices of the Indian mental health establishment. She points out that several women's organisations have responded to this judgment by focusing on women's rights and the right to abortion.
But nowhere in this dialogue between the state and civil society has the issue of reproductive rights and sexuality in the context of psychosocial and mental disability been discussed.
Many state institutions for women living with a mental disabilities, with the co-operation of families, routinely sterilise, abort or give the child away for adoption without the consent of the mother. Many women's organisations and NGOs that provide care have an equally problematic custodial outlook towards such persons. Argues Davar, "In this case, we have not heard the woman's voice anywhere, while we have several third party arbitrations and advocacy. We do not know what the woman wants. Whether the mentally challenged woman has the 'capacity' to take care of the child is another question riddled with prejudices and stereotypes."
In the 1990s at Sirur, Maharashtra, 17 mentally challenged girls below 18 years were peremptorily hysterectomised. The state chose to control the girls' reproductive rights by deploying extreme measures. The professionals involved in that decision neither denied that hysterectomies were done, nor did they perceive them as a violation. They justified them as having been done in the best interests of the girls.
Dr Anant Phadke from Pune who filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on the issue, says that case is still on. In January 2009, the state filed an affidavit stating "Mentally retarded adolescent girls or adult women have no sense of hygiene during menstruation." Shockingly, this is the prime reason given by the government for backing the controversial decision. Justifying its move, the government stated that, unlike stools or urine, menstrual flow is continuous and lasts up to at least 100 hours a month.
It added that caregivers find it difficult to deal with inmates who are uncooperative; and that poor hygiene can lead to infection and laceration on thighs and genitals and that increased flow can cause anaemia. Behavioural problems and psychotic symptoms also cause difficulties for care-givers.
All that is needed to perform the operation is the consent of the parent/guardian and certification from a psychiatrist and gynaecologist that hysterectomy is needed.
"We are challenging these guidelines," says advocate Anand Grover adding that the hysterectomies were performed for the convenience of the institute, to prevent pregnancy in case of sexual abuse and not for the woman's welfare. The government had no authority to conduct a hysterectomy on mentally disabled women and such a move violates the fundamental rights of such women and the provisions of the Mental Health Act.
Advocate Shruti Pandey, a Delhi-based human rights lawyer feels this case was not about abortion per se, it was about whether law recognises and protects the agency of woman. Pic: WFS.
Shruti Pandey, a human rights lawyer from Delhi, admits that this is a case that is "so grey". Says Pandey, "To my mind, this case was not about abortion per se, it was about whether the law of this country recognises and protects the agency of a woman to take decisions for her life and body, especially all its nuances when the woman is a person with mental retardation (MR) or any other disability."
Legally, this case showed - which the HC also noted in detail in its first order - that the Medical Termination Of Pregnancy (MTP) Act does not deal with access to abortion of women with MR, and that it wrongly distinguishes between women with mental retardation and mental illness, leaving the former out totally. Also that the Act does not understand that both these kinds of women are more likely than not to be destitute, in which case guardianship is not that simple.
Clarifies Pandey, "If the SC has said this woman wants to go ahead with the pregnancy, in principle I would support the decision. Every woman has a right to bear children, including women with mental disabilities. But if the court says it is the right of child to be born/not to be killed, and so the pregnancy must go on, that is hugely problematic. In any case, if the SC says no MTP, I would like to see what support mechanism it relies upon, institutionally, and not merely on the assurances and hyperbole of individuals and NGOs. I would also like this decision then to lead to the state's accountability for creating and sustaining comprehensive and reliable support systems for all persons with disabilities, within a rights framework. This is definitely an obligation under Article 12 of the UN Rights of Persons with Disabilities Convention, which India is totally ill-equipped to deliver on, as this case shows."
This case indicates eloquently that the Indian legal framework has to be strengthened a great deal to bring it in line with international legislation. (Women's Feature Service)
Reference : http://www.indiatogether.org/2009/aug/wom-mtpcase.htm
Kamayani Bali Mahabal is an advocate and women's activist based in Mumbai.
The SC recently ruled that a 19-year-old Chandigarh-based mentally retarded girl must be allowed to carry on her pregnancy that was caused by sexual assault. The verdict throws open more questions than it answers, writes Kamayani Bali Mahabal.
14 August 2009 - Mumbai (WFS) - In India, a disabled girl-child is usually at the receiving end of a lot of contempt and neglect. Women with disabilities have been consistently denied their rights. In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court (SC) of India recently allowed a 19-year-old mentally challenged orphan girl to carry on with a pregnancy resulting from a sexual assault. The Punjab and Haryana High Court ruling had earlier ordered medical termination of pregnancy (MTP).
Giving the facts of the case, Advocate Colin Gonsalves who had argued for abortion in this case, said that the girl, who was kept at Nari Niketan, Chandigarh, a government institution for destitute women, was raped some time in March 2009 on the premises by the security guards. In May 2009, the pregnancy was detected. The media widely reported the rape but no institution or individual came forward in the woman's support.
"The SC judgment has focused more on pro-life arguments and the rights of the child," states Bhargavi Davar, who heads the Bapu Trust in Pune.
In the same month the Director of the Government Medical College and Hospital constituted a three-member board comprising a psychiatrist, a clinical psychologist and a special educator to evaluate the woman's mental status. Their report did not suggest anything out of the ordinary except that "she also cries almost daily". The board found her mental age to be nine years and placed her in the category of mild mental retardation.
A few days later, a four-doctor Multi Disciplinary Medical Board was constituted, which included a psychiatrist. It recommended an MTP. The Punjab and Haryana High Court ultimately went on the basis of these reports. The second one concluded that: "the continuation of pregnancy in this case can be associated with certain complications considering her age, mental status and previous surgery. There are increased chances of abortion... pre-maturity... foetal distress and more chances of operative delivery including anaesthetic complications."
The committees concluded that the woman "has adequate physical capacity to bear and raise the child but that her mental health can be further affected by the stress of bearing and raising her child."
This case thus raised fundamental issues relating to consent and to the support required while assessing consent. Eventually most mentally challenged women will, if properly supported, be able to indicate whether they wish to abort the pregnancy or proceed with it, concludes Gonsalves.
Shampa Sengupta, Director of the Sruti Disability Centre in Kolkata, says that if the woman wants to keep the baby she should be allowed to do so. "We as civil society must take the responsibility of supporting her. How can we forget the UN Rights of Persons with Disabilities Convention?" she asks.
Sengupta, who has worked on disability for the last 10 years, adds, "How can we say her choice is not valid? Because the doctors say so? If you or I do not consider the doctor's word as final, why should this young girl? Also, why is it that no one is talking about the rapists and how Nirmala Niketan came to have male employees?"
According to Bhargavi Davar, whether a mentally challenged woman has the 'capacity' to take care of the child is a question riddled with prejudices and stereotypes. Pic: WFS.
"The SC judgment has focused more on pro-life arguments and the rights of the child," states Bhargavi Davar, who heads the Bapu Trust in Pune, an organisation devoted to challenging the mindset and practices of the Indian mental health establishment. She points out that several women's organisations have responded to this judgment by focusing on women's rights and the right to abortion.
But nowhere in this dialogue between the state and civil society has the issue of reproductive rights and sexuality in the context of psychosocial and mental disability been discussed.
Many state institutions for women living with a mental disabilities, with the co-operation of families, routinely sterilise, abort or give the child away for adoption without the consent of the mother. Many women's organisations and NGOs that provide care have an equally problematic custodial outlook towards such persons. Argues Davar, "In this case, we have not heard the woman's voice anywhere, while we have several third party arbitrations and advocacy. We do not know what the woman wants. Whether the mentally challenged woman has the 'capacity' to take care of the child is another question riddled with prejudices and stereotypes."
In the 1990s at Sirur, Maharashtra, 17 mentally challenged girls below 18 years were peremptorily hysterectomised. The state chose to control the girls' reproductive rights by deploying extreme measures. The professionals involved in that decision neither denied that hysterectomies were done, nor did they perceive them as a violation. They justified them as having been done in the best interests of the girls.
Dr Anant Phadke from Pune who filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on the issue, says that case is still on. In January 2009, the state filed an affidavit stating "Mentally retarded adolescent girls or adult women have no sense of hygiene during menstruation." Shockingly, this is the prime reason given by the government for backing the controversial decision. Justifying its move, the government stated that, unlike stools or urine, menstrual flow is continuous and lasts up to at least 100 hours a month.
It added that caregivers find it difficult to deal with inmates who are uncooperative; and that poor hygiene can lead to infection and laceration on thighs and genitals and that increased flow can cause anaemia. Behavioural problems and psychotic symptoms also cause difficulties for care-givers.
All that is needed to perform the operation is the consent of the parent/guardian and certification from a psychiatrist and gynaecologist that hysterectomy is needed.
"We are challenging these guidelines," says advocate Anand Grover adding that the hysterectomies were performed for the convenience of the institute, to prevent pregnancy in case of sexual abuse and not for the woman's welfare. The government had no authority to conduct a hysterectomy on mentally disabled women and such a move violates the fundamental rights of such women and the provisions of the Mental Health Act.
Advocate Shruti Pandey, a Delhi-based human rights lawyer feels this case was not about abortion per se, it was about whether law recognises and protects the agency of woman. Pic: WFS.
Shruti Pandey, a human rights lawyer from Delhi, admits that this is a case that is "so grey". Says Pandey, "To my mind, this case was not about abortion per se, it was about whether the law of this country recognises and protects the agency of a woman to take decisions for her life and body, especially all its nuances when the woman is a person with mental retardation (MR) or any other disability."
Legally, this case showed - which the HC also noted in detail in its first order - that the Medical Termination Of Pregnancy (MTP) Act does not deal with access to abortion of women with MR, and that it wrongly distinguishes between women with mental retardation and mental illness, leaving the former out totally. Also that the Act does not understand that both these kinds of women are more likely than not to be destitute, in which case guardianship is not that simple.
Clarifies Pandey, "If the SC has said this woman wants to go ahead with the pregnancy, in principle I would support the decision. Every woman has a right to bear children, including women with mental disabilities. But if the court says it is the right of child to be born/not to be killed, and so the pregnancy must go on, that is hugely problematic. In any case, if the SC says no MTP, I would like to see what support mechanism it relies upon, institutionally, and not merely on the assurances and hyperbole of individuals and NGOs. I would also like this decision then to lead to the state's accountability for creating and sustaining comprehensive and reliable support systems for all persons with disabilities, within a rights framework. This is definitely an obligation under Article 12 of the UN Rights of Persons with Disabilities Convention, which India is totally ill-equipped to deliver on, as this case shows."
This case indicates eloquently that the Indian legal framework has to be strengthened a great deal to bring it in line with international legislation. (Women's Feature Service)
Reference : http://www.indiatogether.org/2009/aug/wom-mtpcase.htm
Kamayani Bali Mahabal is an advocate and women's activist based in Mumbai.
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