Citizen Direct at India Together: Drums of discontent at Ambikapur

18 December 2006

On 10 December, nearly 1000 people gathered in Ambikapur, the capital of Sarguja district, Chhatisgarh, for a satyagraha rally and mass demonstration on the occasion of World Human Rights Day. The problem of food and livelihood security is a grave one for the rural poor in Sarguja. They face ldeprivation despite rich natural resources in the area.

Marching from Sanjay Park to Vivekanand Chowk, the people expressed their discontent with the present situation regarding food and livelihood, and with the provisions from the government to solve these problems. Participants from all over Sarguja gathered for the event, many of them belonging to the most deprived parts of society such as adivasis, dalits and poor.

The rally was organised by Shri Gandhi Seva Ashram, Sarguja as part of the Food and Democracy Campaign, which seeks to ensure a hunger-free rural Sarguja by strengthening democratic structures and making them accountable to the people. The central issues addressed in the rally concerned the deficiencies in the various schemes and provisions established by the government in recent years, such as PDS, NREGA, Right to Information Act and the Panchayati Raj. It also referred to long standing problems such as the question of land entitlements, compensation of acquired lands and old age pension.

Seeking the efficient implementation of these provisions, the protesters presented a memorandum addressed to the honourable President of India which states their problems, views and demands. The Memorandum was the outcome of group discussions during a cycle rally which took place between 1st and 5th December 2006, comprising 56 villages in 3 blocks of Sarguja.

The memorandum cites a number of instances in which the food security of the poor is threatened by inefficiency and corruption. One crucial issue in this regard is the functioning of the government schemes designed to alleviate poverty. The state of the PDS (Public Distribution System) in Sarguja was surveyed by a group of NGOs led by Shri Gandhi Seva Ashram Sarguja. Covering 19 development blocks in Sarguja and surveying 3,762 beneficiaries, the investigation found the situation to be a grave one. Rations were not distributed properly, with wheat and sugar being hardly available at all and rations often being less than the specified amount. Further, ration shops open only a few days a month, sometimes with no information given to the people about these times.

Another problem concerns the BPL list. Many genuinely poor families are excluded and therefore deprived of primary assistance, while others are unfairly listed as BPL. These problems must be addressed by the government.

A similarly dark picture evolves regarding the NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act). Advertised by the government as a tool to end food insecurity, the programme should now start to bear fruits. However, in a large number of villages the people have not even been informed about the Act by government officials. As an example, out of 8 villages, 440 families have not been enrolled as potential beneficiaries, let alone have they got any employment. Demands of the people regarding labour work therefore are numerous, including a minimum daily wage of Rs.100 and guaranteed 250 days of employment for 2 members of each family.

The implementation of government schemes are showing massive deficits. But that apart, looking at the PESA (Provision of Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act) legislation of 1996, more problems arise. Under this Act, the Gram Panchayats and Gram Sabhas have been given the power to draw up development plans for the villages. Especially related to water resources these plans are crucial. But wherever a plan has been submitted to the block office, the only response was inaction. The office which holds the resources to facilitate any development, categorically ignores the village plans to pursue its own interests. Therefore the people’s legal power amounts to nothing.

PESA also includes provisions for tribal land rights. Yet 1,652 families from 3 blocks in Sarguja have not been given the titles over the lands they cultivate, as these lands are still under forest or revenue department control. Others are deprived of their rights by having become victims of land acquisition. More than 250 families lost their land due to the Shyam Ghunghutta and Gagar canal projects in 1975 and 1987, respectively. Until today, they have not received any form of compensation from the government and have to struggle for their livelihood as landless families. Despite investments for adivasis which are supposed to improve their livelihood and food security, thousands of tribals, such as Pahari Korwa, are still forced to migrate from their villages in search of labour work or have to cultivate wastelands to make a living.

The memorandum also includes other issues that pose a threat to livelihood security and place extra burdens on the people. One example of this concerns the creation of a canal for irrigation in Rajpur block. No water has been running there since its completion. Still, the farmers of the adjacent villages are forced to pay irrigation tax every year, while they receive no benefits whatsoever.

Yet another grievance the people have put down is about the denotification of the Bhumiya and Bhuinya tribes. They were listed as Scheduled Tribes in Madhya Pradesh, and Chhatisgarh accepted this classification. But after 1997, the local administration no longer recognised their status and took away all their rights as a Scheduled Tribe without proper justification, leaving them with no aid.

The rally in Ambikapur provided a platform for the people to express their views and opinions and to make the wider public aware of their situation. All the issues addressed here and the demands connected with them are collected in the Memorandum to the Honourable President of India. It was submitted to the district collector with the hope that it will reach all levels of the government and be a trigger for change.

Hasrat Arjjumend and Jana Wendler 18 Dec 2006

Hasrat Arjjumend is one of the Coordinators of the Food and Democracy Campaign. He is co-Founder and managing trustee of the Grassroots India Trust, and co-Director of Grassroots Media Initiative. Jana Wendler is a German national, and is an intern at the Grassroots India Trust. She is involved in research and advocacy for the Food and Democracy Campaign.

Citizen Direct is India Together’s channel for publishing reports from citizens who have detailed information about specific civil society concerns and matters, by virtue of their participation, association, or independent observation. These reports are therefore as witnessed and understood by the authors themselves; India Together accepts no liability or responsibility for them.
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