A webinar of South India Ekta Parishad coordination was held on the 5th May 2021, 11.00 am to 01.00 pm (Zoom Meeting)
The following people participated in the meeting;
1. Narasimharao, Telungana
2. Madhavan, Karnataka
3. Inamul Hasan, Pondicherry
4. Dhanraj, Tamilnadu
5. Yogesh, Tamilnadu
6. Suresh, Tamilnadu
7. Santhosh, Kerala
8. Rajendra Prasad, Kerala
9. Praveen Jha, Delhi
10. K.S.Sharma, Hyderabad
11. Ramesh Sharma, Bhopal
12. Biju. K
13. Rajagopal.P.V
This webinar was basically to discuss three issues out of nine suggested in the approach note. The subject discussed today were land reforms by Shri. Praveen Jha, Youth leadership by Mr. K.S.Sarma and Adivasis issues by Mr. Ramesh Sharma. All the three presentations were very important and the participants benefited in a big way.
Praveen Jha in his presentation made it clear that poverty cannot be addressed without land reform. He said while many other countries redistributed 40% of their land India has achieved only 3% of redistribution. He suggested that land reform should be put on fast track. He said if we do a study of how much land was taken for so called development and how much land was redistributed, we will see a very distributing picture. He expressed in hope that in south India, that is less feudal and comparatively progressive there is a greater chance to argue for land reforms. At the end he suggested that there should be a very strong advocacy efforts for land reform in south India and he is willing to give whatever time and energy he can in this direction. To a question why people are selling land he suggested that the farmers in Europe and USA are able to survive because of direct subsidy by the state, where as in India they are forced to sell their land. He was also concerned that land has become a commodity of speculation. In his concluding remarks he said it was unfortunate that India did not take Gandhi s suggestions of gramswaraj seriously.
Mr. K.S.Sarma spoke about leadership. He cited the example of Mahatma Gandhi for the right kind of leadership. According to him a good leader should be able to remove fear from the minds of others. He should also have the capacity to guide and motivate others. Sarma ji thought those who complain about their own team members should learn to correct themselves rather than finding fault with others. Real leadership, according to him is to involve people in planning for their own future. In his usual style he brought many quotations from many books and individuals to inspire the participants. To a question, how can we train new leadership in every districts of South India, he said he is willing to train a team of trainers (ToT) who in turn can train more youth in the coming years. He was also agreed to do a workshop session for a select group of people through webinar,
Our third speaker Ramesh Sharma proposed the following points on the issue of adivasis, their life and culture.
1. Adivasis of Tamilnadu and Kerala put together are covering 10% of geographical land area.
2. There should be real focus on FRA (Forest Right Act). People should demand community rights.
3. Withdrawal of false cases that are imposed on adivasis demands special attention
4. Legal service authority, legal aid, and legal clinic, can be used in the interest of adivasis
5. Should approach state ST commission and take benefit of this office
6. Tribal Sub Plan has a lot of resources for ST community. We should approach this financial institution.
7. We should influence law universities, law colleges to sensitize law students about adivasi problems. That is the only way to sensitize judicial system of the country.
8. Conservation of tribal culture and traditional knowledge in the field of seeds, agriculture, irrigation, medicinal plants, etc are very important.
Rajendra Prasad, Suresh and Dhanraj participated in the interactive discussion.
Recorded by Biju
5th May 2021
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