Charkha, Delhi : Newsletter for July – August 2006
Greetings from Charkha!
As conflict becomes an increasingly inevitable aspect of Indias present-day reality, its impact has moved from out there to our own relatively sheltered lives. The hitherto isolated incidents have morphed into an insidious pattern that threatens to challenge the very integrity of the nation necessitating an urgent and consolidated search for solutions.
Development in Areas of Conflict is, therefore, an issue of deep concern to Charkha as it follows its mandate of highlighting peoples voices from the grassroots. Violence is simply an indicator of voices unheard, when desperation turns a people to violence as the last resort. Even as intense debate and discussion continues in different parts of the country on how the matter should be addressed, the people directly affected remain outside these decision-making forums.
Charkhas search for a way forward led a team of two to Raipur to meet, question, explore, comprehend and enable the creation of an suitable approach to Chhattisgarh, extensively in the news recently with intensified Maoist activity. Seeking to understand the contextual forces within which to place the incidence of violence in remote parts of the state, the team discussed the issue with individuals across sectors media, administration, academia and civil society organisations that have been associated with Chhattisgarh over the years since its inception and the preceding decades when it was a little known part of Madhya Pradesh popular with industrialists for its rich mineral reserves and with sociologists for an even richer tribal culture.
Stepping away from the predominant disregard of all State efforts, the team discovered that the efficient and effective State-run Mitanin Programme of the Department of Health can serve as an appropriate platform from where a broader agenda can be taken up. Working on development activities can enable the creation of peaceful solutions built on an acknowledgment of real grievances. An accurate understanding of any grievances necessitates an authentic information base. To this end, the Charkha team met Professor Indra Dev, eminent Sociologist based in Raipur. Excerpts of this interview provide a fresh perspective and an alternative paradigm of development that addresses the real needs and grievances of the people. Charkha strives to bring these multi-hued voices to the attention of the larger audience to open up avenues for harmonious resolution of conflict situations.
In this issue of the bimonthly e-newsletter, we bring you a story from a rural writer that puts a human face to the ongoing debate on the Scheduled Tribes (Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill, 2005. Even as decision makers claim their adherence to the greater common good, the affected have no say in the decision making process. In contrast, it gives us great delight to bring a surprise antidote to the popular image of the hapless tribal as professional tribal lawyers, many among them women, speak up for the rights of their communities. Another positive story is of women emerging as entrepreneurs in rural Gujarat which brings them financial security and a self-esteem they have not hitherto known. As the debate on large development projects continues, lesser known dam-affected communities raise their voices to make their hardships known caused, in one case, by construction of a large dam, and in another case, by non-construction of a canal that would give critical irrigation facilities available to the cultivators.
The narratives are as wide-ranging as Indias diversity and as Charkha continues its uphill task of bringing these little-heard voices to the fore, we remain inspired by Gandhijis philosophy, A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.
May that small band of citizens flourish!
Anshu Meshack