Information on Ekta Parishad

 Information Sheet On Ekta Parishad

May 18, 2021

 

About EP: Ekta Parishad is a mass-based organization working in 150 districts of India. EP mainly focuses on youth leadership, nonviolence, mass mobilization and policy change in the interests of the poor and marginalized populations. The main strength of EP is that it has a very strong community base in thousands of villages.

 

 Structure of EP: Ekta Parishad has district coordinators and a support team in every district. A select group from the district are represented in the State Committee. The State representatives get nominated into the national committee. The national secretariat of Ekta Parishad is operating from Bhopal. There are coordination points and training centres in different states.

 

Decision Making in EP: The main decision-making body is the national committee but decisions related to the state or the districts, are made at these levels. Generally this is a consultative process between different bodies. Decisions are generally made through a bottom-up process. Only in emergency cases like Covid19 does it become top-down because of the urgency

 

Communication in EP: Communication is a two-way process. The national committee takes responsibility for international communications and to bring information back  to the state and  to the districts. There is a flow of information that comes from villages to district and to state and then to the national level. This is the information from the bottom that is generally used for external communication and advocacy work.

 

Bank account of EP: In the previous round of Covid-19 relief work during the year 2020, we received about 80 lakhs from our international support groups and this money was shown separately as Covid fund. At the end of the year we had a balance of about 10 lakhs and that is the money being used for the relief work this year. All foreign contributions can only come to one bank account operated by MGSA in Morena, Madhya Pradesh. For Indian money we have identified three organizations within Ekta Parishad circle and the contributions will be used only for Covid19 related activities.

 

Covid operation in the field: We have selected 72 districts out of 150 as our immediate operational area. (Lists of these 72 districts are attached). Soon we are going to add some more districts from the southern part of India. EP workers, volunteers and village level leaders are all active in reaching out to the people and helping them in whatever way we can.

 

Coordination with state: As a well-known mass-based organization, EP is connected to the governments at the state and district level. In the case of Covid relief, we need full cooperation of the government, just as governments need the cooperation of organizations that are credible at the village level. Because of extensive outreach, EP related organizations are able to work with government(s) without any difficulty.

 

National/international dimension of EP: Because of various important activities of EP during the last 30 years, this organization is known in many circles nationally and internationally. We have a support association in Europe and it is called EP Europe. Nine countries are participating in this forum at the moment. Jai Jagat global campaign launched jointly by EP and other organizations has also given much broader reach to Ekta Parishad globally. The very fact that we are connected globally gives us an opportunity to be heard, and to seek support when there is an urgency like the Covid relief.

 

Covid-19 Operation in Phase 1 and Phase 2: In Phase 1 because the impact was felt on urban life, EP took up the responsibility for finding work and food for migrant labourers who had returned to their villages or lost their employment. We were able to organize distribution of relief materials, work (shramdan) camps to create community assets and also encourage tree plantation in many villages. In Phase 1, we have reached nearly 100,000 (one lakh) families.

 

Phase 2 is more challenging in term of area to be covered and demands to be met. To begin with we are encouraging communities to use local herbs and medicines as well as to use masks and sanitizers as preventive measures. Apart from Home Care and other preventative measures, EP is setting up isolation centres with the support of Govt. for affected people.  In addition we are sending volunteers with the medical teams to villages for holding of vaccination camps. Other than these actions we are also providing a medical kit with essential medicines and mask to thousands of families.

 

Soon demand for food items may increase as there is no employment, especially for landless populations. During the monsoon (July, Aug, Sep) this will be particularly acute.

 

Transparency/Accountability:  EP has been careful about transparency and accountability and this is especially important in any disaster situation. EP is trying to use every rupee for the people and avoid unnecessary overhead costs.  There is an internal auditing system to begin with and the financial statement becomes public after external auditing. All major donors will receive a copy of the audited report and will be free to cross-check for details. We have an accounts department that is fully dedicated to this task.

Long-term Partnership with Ekta Parishad:

1.     Covid19 is a special situation and we have accepted to face this challenge. Relief is not our basic character. We are more into the ideea of building a self sufficient community rather than a dependant community. In-order to achieve this we need long term partners and long term support in the following areas.

 

2.      Training rural young people into community organizers.

 

3.     Scholarship for trained rural leaders (They have to devote major part of their time in community organizing).

 

4.     Working on local nonviolent and sustainable economy. This will mean small initiatives (land based, forest based, labour based) and each initiative will require small start up support.

 

5.     Networking with other initiatives and organizations.  To build a broad alliance to create a better impact support for communication, travel etc.

 

6.     Advocacy action for policy change. Policies need to be made in a way that will allow communities to have greater control over natural resources and also have power to decide about their own future. Ekta Parishad has already demonstrated that large scale community mobilization and advocacy can go hand in hand.

 

7.     Producing educational materials out of experiences on the ground. We have many documents, reports and films that are generally used as educational material. More such materials need to be created in the larger interest of all those who are trying to transform the society into a better place.

 

 Rajagopal.P.V

18^th May 2021

 

 

A Call for Nationwide Padayatra

 Jai Jagat Global Campaign 2020 - 2030

A Call for Nationwide Padayatra and other activities from International day of Peace to International day of Nonviolence

Dear Friends

September 21^st is the International day of Peace and the 2^nd of October is International day of nonviolence. This is the period when each one of us who are interested in peace and nonviolence should reach out to the communities around us. As part of our Jai Jagat global campaign 2020-2030 we are planning to organize one hundred padayatra across India in-order to create a climate in support of justice, peace and nonviolence.

This fact is not hidden from anyone of us that we are faced with various kinds of conflicts at the individual and at the level of communities. Conflicts related to poverty and displacements are very common. Conflict around caste and religion is also becoming common.  Conflicts emerging out of developmental and economic model are also many and are spreading across the country.  The tribal areas are witnessing high level of conflicts between people and animal on one side and between people and mining companies on the other. I know what I am discussing here is not only relevant to India, but also to many countries that are facing similar situations in a fast globalizing world. In the recent past we have also witnessed high level of political conflicts between those who believe in authoritarian form of Government and those who believe in democracy.

I think this is the most appropriate time for all of us who believe in justice, peace and nonviolence to come out in the open to find solutions from the wisdom and experience of the local people. If the numbers of people involved in the padayatra are large, this may even attract the media, and our message will go far and wide.

We are planning for hundred padayatras during this period across India. I will not be surprised if the number go far beyond hundred as more and more groups will start registering for such an important action. At a later stage we can invite all those who participated in the padayatra for a national conference.

This is the time for us to invest into peace building. Here the investment is mainly time and ideas. I am sure the local people will feed and shelter us when we are out for a good cause.  Month of September is a long way ahead. Let us find time to popularize this idea and organize hundred padayatras across India for justice, peace and nonviolence, during the period from 21^st September to 2^nd October.

We can also conduct different programs along with the padayatra. All religious prayer, discussion on nonviolent economy, training in nonviolence, theatre activities on peace and nonviolence are some of them.  On the 2nd of October the yatra can culminate into a Gandhi Jayanthi Carnival with music, theatre, exhibition, discussions, etc. Let's use this opportunity to bring the agenda of justice, peace and nonviolence in the forefront and push violence into history. I am sure your active involvement and participation in this program will add colour to the entire program.

 With warm regards

Rajagopal.P.V

(Jai Jagat 2020-2030, Sarvodaya Samaj, Bharat Punar Nirman, Ekta Parishad, Jal Biradiri, National Youth Project and many other organizations)

 

Introduction to Mediation

 Introduction to Mediation

Excerpts from the talk delivered by K S Sarma

during the course of the workshop held online on 22 May 2021

 

Mediation is an ADR, that is, Alternative Dispute Resolution. It is called ‘Alternative’, because Litigation has been the main dispute resolution system. You will agree with me that generally an alternative to an existing system arises, when something better than what is existing is found.

 

The purpose of litigation is resolution of disputes within a reasonable period of time and in a just and fair manner. Is litigation achieving this objective? Are the parties happy with the judgements given out to them by the Courts of Law? 

 

A survey conducted in our country reveals that 95% of the winners of the court cases are unhappy! Mind you, I am not talking about the losers, I am talking about the winners of cases, 95% of whom are unhappy! What could be the reason?

 

According to the National Court Management System of the Supreme Court of India, it now takes 15 years of litigation on an average for a commercial or civil dispute to get resolved. Fifteen years is indeed too long a period particularly in today’s fast changing world. This waiting period of 15 years to get justice is likely to increase further in the years to come because of the high pendency of cases in the courts, which is not coming down, but increasing every day.

 

Anil Xavier, the President of the Indian Institute of Arbitration and Mediation draws a humorous analogy between this and a five-year-old boy asking his father to buy him a tricycle. The father is a perfectionist! He wants to buy his son the best and the most beautiful tricycle of the world and starts searching for such a tricycle. In the process, days, weeks, months and years pass by and the boy ultimately forgets the tricycle.

 

 

One day, after he has grown into a twenty-year old young man, his father brings home a grand tricycle and tells the young man, “My son, you wanted me to buy you a tricycle 15 years ago when you were 5 years old. I started searching that day itself for the best tricycle of the world. I got it only today. It is a very special tricycle. None else in India has it. It will be your proud possession.”

 

The young man is amused. Though he is able to see in it the innocent love of his father and his commitment to give his son a precious and unique gift, the son cannot ride the tricycle today. What the handsome young man wants to ride today is the latest high end version of Harley Davidson motorcycle! Something which had value 15 years ago , that is, when he was 5 years old, has no value for him today.  

 

This is the reason why 95% of the litigants who won the cases are unhappy. We know that 100% of the losers are unhappy. It is indeed shocking that the winners too are unhappy. It is said that justice delayed is justice denied. Litigation today is a classic example of a Lose-Lose Situation, because all the parties are losers. They lost time, money and efforts, besides destroying the relationship; and after paying such a heavy price, they did not get a verdict which could satisfy them. So, is it wise to go to a court of law for settlement of a civil or commercial dispute?

 

Cases have piled up to an alarming level in all the courts of law – from the lowest subordinate court to the district court to the high court to the Supreme Court. It is estimated that at the present speed of disposal of cases, it will take another 326 years to clear off all the cases pending in all the courts of India from the lowest court to the apex court, and that too, assuming that no new case is filed in any court of India from tomorrow onwards!

 

Litigants lose time and money for years fighting in the courts. They lose also mental peace, affecting their personal and family life besides their career, profession or business. In other words, people destroy their lives by fighting out in the courts of law.

Of course, the biggest loss to the litigants is the relationship with the other party, who may be a customer or a business associate or any stakeholder or a close relative or a neighbour, which gets severely damaged.

 

Therefore, we need an alternative model for resolution of disputes – a model which is speedy and economical and which preserves and improves relationships. This necessity led to the birth of ADR, that is, Alternative Dispute Resolution.

 

Today, we prefer alternative sources of energy like solar power or wind energy to the conventional source like thermal power from the point of view of preserving the environment and for sustainability. In the same manner, ADR, that is, Alternative Dispute Resolution has now gained acceptance, as it saves time, money and relationships.

 

Mediation is one such Alternative Dispute Resolution process. Resolution through Mediation is fast. It can be as short as one session and maximum of a few sessions, taking a month or two. Very rarely, does it take more than 3 months. The success rate of getting the dispute resolved through Mediation has been about 80%. The financial cost of mediation is much lesser than that of litigation.

 

The biggest reward one gets out of mediation is saving the relationship. Disputants become collaborators and enemies turn into friends. In many cases, the disputants got more than what they hoped to get, because mediation enables the parties to convert the dispute into a mutual problem which carries with it the seed of a greater opportunity and makes them to find an innovative solution to the problem, benefiting both the parties.

 

Mediation is a process, in which a neutral person called the Mediator, facilitates negotiations between the parties to a dispute, with a view to resolving it amicably. In other words, Mediation is Assisted Negotiation or Facilitated Negotiation.

 

What then is Negotiation? Negotiation is defined as communication for agreement. Therefore, as a corollary, Mediation is assisted or facilitated communication for agreement.

 

Mediator is the facilitator of such a communication between the parties, which enables them to reach willingly and voluntarily, a mutually beneficial agreement. Mediation encourages the parties to see the dispute as a mutual problem to be solved by them jointly, having regard to each party’s interests, needs and concerns.

 

It is a process which empowers the parties to come to a solution to the problem on their own, instead of relying on a court of law or a neutral party, say an arbitrator to decide on the dispute.

 

William Ury, a leading negotiator and mediator, narrates a simple incident that took place in a Harvard Library to drive home this point. Two students were quarrelling in the library. One wanted the window to be open and the other wanted it to be closed. The first went and opened the window. The second immediately got up, rushed to the window and closed it, which led to a big argument and naturally bothered everyone in the library. Finally, the librarian came over and asked the first student, “Why do you want the window open?” “Because I want some fresh air.” She asked the second student: “Why do you want the window closed?” “Because the draft is blowing my papers around.” She then asked them: “How do we get you some fresh air without giving you a draft?” They thought about it for a bit and then one of the students said: “I have an idea.” And he went into the next room and opened a window there, thus providing fresh air for one without a draft for the other.

In this library episode, we saw that not only both the students got what they wanted, but their fight also was stopped and the relationship was restored. Window should be open is the position that one student took. The position of the other student was that it should be closed. The interest of the former was fresh air and that of the latter was no draft, that is, papers should not fly.

Position is what people say that they want. Interest is why they want what they want. In this case, the librarian who played the role of a mediator, asked the first student why he wanted the window to be open and asked the second student why he wanted the window to be closed.

 

If we know our interest and the interest of the party with whom we are negotiating, and look for a creative solution that takes care of the interests of both of us, we will arrive at a win-win situation.

The library episode takes us to the first 3 key concepts of Principled Negotiation, namely

1.    Separate people from the problem

2.    Focus on interests, NOT on positions

3.     Invent options for mutual gains

A brief report of the mediation workshop held on 22nd May during 4.00 to 6.00 pm facilitated by Mr. K. S. Sarmaji from Hyderabad through Zoom Online.

 A brief report of the mediation workshop held on 22^nd May during 4.00 to 6.00 pm facilitated by Mr. K. S. Sarmaji from Hyderabad through Zoom Online.

There are about 36 participants were actively participated from different part of India. Majority were young people in this webinar.

 

Shri. Rajagopal.P.V welcomed all the participants as well as the resource person Shri. Sarmaji and requested everyone to make use the learning from this kind of programs in terms of developing their personal understanding in nonviolent way of mediation methods in difficult situations at personal level as well as at the community level in large.

 

The workshop intended to explore the root cause of conflict, the mindset that creates conflict, and the mindset that prevents conflict. It is unaccepted and unappreciated differences that leads to disputes. These disputes, if unresolved, then leads to conflicts. Sarmaji took us through the workshop through simulated exercises to create an experiential learning.

 

We started with the 'Cube exercise'. This showed that even though we, the participants, were a group of similar thinking people, had different perspectives about what is the correct answer. Later, through Sarmaji's guidance we realized:

1. That although our views were different, all had valid views.

2. That it is important to become curious about why someone else sees the situation in a different way.

3. That we must be aware of our tendency to stick to first impressions/answers, and must be aware they may be wrong.

4. That our view is subjective, partial, and distorted, because our past experiences affect our perspective.

To clarify the last point, Sarmaji narrated the story of two car drivers and their conflict. Later we realized their conflict was the result of a misunderstanding. The misunderstanding happened because of a bad experience one driver had in the past.

Sarmaji also explained how once we understand the other person's view, we can then change our approach of working with them.

Sarmaji then defined mediation. It is facilitated negotiation. It saves time and money and saves relationships when compared to long lasting court cases that are stressful and delayed in resolution. Sarmaji narrated a tricycle story to illustrate this.

Based on a story of a conflict that happens in a library, we learned the following:

In principled negotiation or mediation, we must try to understand the real interests behind the positions each party takes. The initial positions both parties take may look difficult to resolve but once we understand the interests, the participants can come to a resolution that satisfies both their interests.

We then did the nine dots exercise that proved solutions are discovered if we think out of the existing structure. The way a task is described also can affect confidence that it can be solved.

Sarmaji wrapped up the session showing how the force of a person's motivation depends on his belief in the worth of a goal, and his belief in the possibility that he can achieve it.

Notes prepared by: Anish and Ajith

Remembering Jai Singh a dear Friend

 Remembering Jai Singh a dear Friend

I am finding it very difficult to come to terms that my dear friend Jai Singh is no more with us. This is a great loss for the voluntary sector and social movements. This is also a loss to those who are involved in land struggles, bonded labour liberation and human rights work. Shri. Jaisingh Bhai was available to everyone as a friend and as a supporter. I have many memories of Jaisingh Bhai. Let me put down some of them for the benefit of my friends.

When Ekta Parishad organized a long march of 25,000 people from Gwalior to Delhi in 2007, after walking for 29 days on the national highway when we finally arrived at Delhi Ramlila Maidan instead of engaging with us in a dialog we were locked up. Ramlila Maidan was converted into a temporary prison. There was some amount of frustration among the people who walked all the way from Gwalior to Delhi hoping that the Govt. will talk to them. This was not the kind of welcome that they were expecting. At this point of time Jaisinghji marched into Ramlila Maidan with one thousand landless people from all parts of Punjabto express their solidarity with Ekta Parishad. This large group of landless people from Punjab completely changed the atmosphere in Ramlila Maidan. People were all charged up, started sloganeering “jameen do ya Jail do” (give us land or jail).Soon the negotiation began and we reached anagreement with Government of India. I want to thank Jaisinghji for his role at this particular moment in history.

In 2011 we decided to travel through the country for one year to mobilize people for a larger action in 2012. After completing the journey through many states of India we arrived in Punjab for a month. Jaisinghji and his team had organized our trip in Punjab in a very systematic way. We used to visit the poorest villages to interact with the bonded labours, the landless and the marginalized communities. All those who were part of the caravan that travelled through the rest of the country were very inspired by his dedicated work for the liberation of the oppressed. My impression about Punjab as an economically developed state got completely changed after this visit. The striking inequality and poverty in Punjab shocked me throughout the journey. I want to thank Jaisighji for opening my eyes to the reality of Punjab. After seeing the plight of the landless community in Punjab I wrote to the then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh ji requesting him to appeal to the landed communities to give some land to the landless. In my letter, I had urged him to adopt the method of that Vinoba Bhave used. I told him that such an appeal coming from him as Prime Minister of India will be taken seriously and suggest that he could also consider making an announcement of a reward or some way of honoring those who come forward to give land. Of course Shri. Manmohan Singh ji did not respond positively to my requestedbut the hope that someone with high moral standing will come forward one day to repeat Vnoba bhave in Punjab is still alive in my heart.

Looking back I have pleasant memories of my association with Jaisighji and his friends and we will all miss him in a big way. I am surehe will be happy if we continue on his path and carry his dream forward.

(Rajagopal.P.V)

Convener – SarvodayaSamaj

11^th June 2021

 

Back to Grassroot is the way forward

 Back to Grassroot is the way forward

After many years of work at various levels Ekta Parishad has taken a turn towards grassroot. For the last two decades Ekta Parishad was concentrating more on policy change. Though the activities were at the grassroot level with the marginalized communities the focus was on policy and policy change. The long march in 2000, Janadesh in 2007, Jan satyagraha in 2012, Jan Andolan 2018 were all directed to the Govt. and pressure on the Govt. to think about larger policy framework that can positively impact the life of people at grassroot.  The new position taken by Ekta Parishad are divided into four area, they are; grassroot leadership, grassroot politics, grassroot economy and grassroot funding.

Refocusing the approach at this point of time is very important as the overall political situation is changing drastically. Ekta Parishad has always taken a lead role in setting trend. About 20 years back Ekta Parishad took a lead role in promoting the idea of nonviolent social movement, but in today’s India Ekta Parishad has the responsibility to help organizations to understand that in the changing political climate what is important is not to waste time at the top but to get down to the level of people and find your strength at that level,and continue to create positive impact in the life of marginalized communities.  

Grassroot leadership

There are thousands of young people who are thrown in to the cities as migrant labours. They need to be trained and organized to work towards their own economic standing. After Covid lockdown this has become clear to many that their salvation is not in cities and slums. There are many young people who are being used by political parties and other forces to achieve their interest. It is the time for Ekta Parishad to refocus on grassroot leadership, so that this energy can be redirected into grassroot economy and grassroot politics. This is the energy that is available in today’s India if we want to seriously address the deep crisis in-front of us.

Grassroot Politics

Ekta Parishad is known for building nonviolent social movement with a special focus on marginalized people at the bottom. By and large Ekta Parishad has kept itself away from participating in direct electoral politics.

In the last national committee meeting of Ekta Parishad, it was decided to make a planned intervention at the grassroot electoral politics. Except in one or two states in India where the grassroot politics is also on party lines, in all other states the Panchayat elections are conducted on a nonparty basis.  In a three-tier system of governance, panchayat is the only place where elections are held without direct party involvement. Unless this level of politics is strengthened and also purified Ekta Parishad may find it difficult to deliver justice to the marginalized communities. Unfortunately, the corrupt system at the top has infiltrated deep into the bottom. Elected representatives at the bottom are also being used by powerful lobbies to advance their agenda. Along with decentralization of political power corruption is also being decentralized and this problem is eating into the roots of democracy.

Ekta Parishad has decided to actively intervene at this level. This will mean identification of the right kind of candidate at the ward and panchayat level, providing them information and training to understand their role as elected representative. It will also mean continued support after the election to take their responsibility seriously and to focus on delivery of justice to the poor and marginalized.  We believe that many young people who were part of Ekta Parishad struggle for the last many years can be good candidates for panchayat election. We also believe that large number of elected representatives at the grassroot level can bring about  a transformation in the political culture of India. Ekta Parishad has decided to set up a special wing to promote this process and also to set up necessary system for training, follow up, etc. Experts who have worked on this agenda for many years like Mr. Pran in Uttar Pradesh, PRIA in Delhi can be drawn into this process, as they have already developed training modules and other systems to deal with grassroot politics.

Grassroot Economy

The resources available in the rural areas are being exploited by powerful forces. The land, the water, the forest, the minerals, everything is going in to the hands of powerful people, while the poor people are migrating to cities and slums. The very people who create cities and wealth are thrown to poverty and misery.  Even an ordinary person can understand that there is something seriously wrong in the way the economy is being organized. This is the time for Ekta Parishad to invite well meaning economist from all over the world to rural India and create and demonstrate a different scale of economy that can turn the table. The best economic mind in the world will have to come together to create a model that can be called “nonviolent economy”. This is a challenge that Ekta Parishad  is wanting  to take up  in the coming days.

Grassroot Funding

Historically social workers and social organizations were depended on local communities for their up-keeping. In course of time some relations were build across the globe and financial resources started coming from outside as well. Ekta Parishad is lucky to have many partners across the globe and they were supporting the work with full confidence. We are thankful to them for their trust in us. The fact is that the Govt. in different countries are now trying to restrict the space for collaboration between likeminded organizations globally.  As a result in the coming years this many not be possible to enjoy the same level of support from our global partners. A people based organization like Ekta Parishad has the responsibility to put in place a new system that will continue to give them the freedom and space to work with the marginalized communities to advance the agenda of justice and peace.  This will be possible only by working on the agenda of grassroot funding. While we may continue to accept all possible support from our global partners we want to create possibilities to raise resources locally at the grassroot level. This can be through membership, or through donations, this can also be by initiating economic programs that can generate extra money. This can also be people’s contribution in terms of materials. Every possible avenue should be explored so that lack of resources should not become a reason to scale down the work of the organization. We feel that we need to take a lead in a direction that will help many others to draw inspiration and lessons from .

Rajagopal.P.V

18^th February 2021

CESCI Madurai

 

 

 

The Relevance of Antyodaya in a Post-Pandemic Era

 

The Relevance of Antyodaya in a Post-Pandemic Era

 

Discussion on antyodaya is very important in any post epidemic or post pandemic situation and COVID-19 is no exception since it has hit almost all spheres of life and livelihood. COVID-19 is almost a shock treatment to the human society to make us realize that we've gone a long way in a wrong direction.  And moreover this situation also to tells us that the last person in the society is still suffering and is waiting for justice. This turmoil is not only particular to India but to the whole world cutting across geographical and political boundaries.  But when comparing India to other countries one could say that India is somewhat lucky not because of the mere modern medical or scientific or technological developments but because of the strong community ties that one still lingers on to.

In countries like India, we are somewhat lucky that we've a community to go back to, but imagine countries and cultures where communities are no more available there to support the fellow human being! In a rush for individual freedom and individual space we have destroyed communities in many countries. Even in India, we are in the process of destroying communities and villages in the name of development i.e., building cities.  Is this a development true in its sense?  Is it life furthering and life preserving? COVID-19 is asking us to rethink about our approach. I'm personally interested in this idea of 'antyodaya' because it is only through ‘antyodaya’ we can travel to 'sarvodaya' and achieve 'jai jagat'. If we achieve antyodaya, it is easy to achieve the other two. I'm only surprised why the Indian planners and thinkers have so much difficulty to understand this simple philosophy. I'm also surprised on how the thinkers and planners could understand and appreciate the idea of globalisation, marketisation, mechanisation and privatisation, while they miserably failed to understand antyodaya,sarvodaya and jai jagat. I strongly feel that the political leadership in every country should follow the direction of antyodaya, which will eradicate poverty and promote justice and peace. If you look at the dictionary meaning of politics, you'll understand that it is all about the art of organizing the society. But, rather than looking at politics as an art in organizing society, we've used it for capturing and abusing power.  For example, Anil Kapoor, head of the department of Asian studies, based in Pennsylvania, in an interview to an Indian newspaper, speaks about non-delivery of justice, due to insensitivity to the poor and their suffering. He says that it is of no use starting new departments and constructing new buildings, what is missing is the human sensitivity towards the poor and marginalized. COVID-19 has demonstrated the suffering of millions of poor people who are walking thousands of Kilometers to reach their homes. We need to respond to their call before it is too late. Gandhiji has given a complete direction that we can take if we want to address this problem. Let me put them into seven simple points:

 

1.    Gandhi speaks about the last man/woman. According to him, all our programmes and planning should focus on the last person in the society. In a family, the weakest will get our attention. In the same way, in society, the weakest should receive our attention. I'm told that Swami Vivekananda went a step ahead. In a discussion with the farmers from Punjab, he says, "As long as there is a dog hungry, my spirituality is to find food for that dog". This is the level of sensitivity that we need to develop among the planners, thinkers and implementers.

2.    Gandhi says, "What can be done by hand, should be done by hand. What can be done in a village, should be done in a village and what can be done in a small industry should be done in a small industry". According to him, big industry should do only things that is beyond hand,village and small industry. There is no reason why cloth, soap and many other items need to be made by big industries while millions of hands are without work.

3.    Gandhi speaks about production by masses and not to promote mass production. In order to make things cheaper, we are largely depending on machines and we produce so much that we dump our products in the market. Only people with money can buy it. If we promote production by masses, then everyone will have a decent job and will feel dignified. Specially in country like India where we have huge unemployment, we need to adopt a production method that provides everyone dignity and food.

4.    Gandhi speaks about greed and need. According to him, a greed based development model will destroy the nature due to accumulation of wealth in the hands of few. He speaks about a model that will take care of human needs with respect for nature.

5.    In one conversation, Gandhi is asking the Britishers to get-off from his back. That means get-off from the back of India. People who are on your back, are forcing you to bend, are behaving as if they're helping you. If you look at any country, you can find that the poor people, the working class, carry a heavy burden of the state on their backs. All officials need comforts, they need their salary and pension and all that is at the expense of the poor people of the country. How long can we continue to hold on to a system of this height.

6.    Finally, Gandhi is speaking about self-sufficient,self-governed villagers, uniting into a nation called India. Here he is defining a development model that is bottom up. He doesn't subscribe to the idea of a capital city controlling all the wealth and power, while the people at the bottom are suffering. This model needs to change. COVID 19 as well as Gandhi's 150th year can be used for a paradigm shift. 

 

What is very unfortunate is that we are not learning any lesson from this pandemic.Instead of learning lessons, we have become greedier and profit oriented even at the cost of annihilation.  We continue to run business as usual. We are also progressively diluting all our labour laws, environmental laws, land laws because there is demand for land by companies. We are also giving away coal blocks to private companies that will further displace people living in those areas. There is a deep problem that we are not listening to the call by the nature or the call given by Gandhi. I believe antyodaya can never come from the top. Sarvodaya and jai jagat will also never come from the top. So we have the responsibility to promote a sensible and committed leadership from the bottom. This leadership should respect the dignity oflabour and also learn the art of non-violent struggle for justice. Such leadership and organized communities should become a national force. Such an organized national force can create enough pressure for a shift in national policies. What is demanded at the moment is a bottom up process of mobilization and that too, a mobilization with the understanding of non-violence. Such national mobilizations can come together to address anti-people global policies promoted by World Bank, IMF and WTO.Like Gandhi, who could identify the potential of a revolution in a charkha(spinning wheel), we should also understand the revolutionary possibilities among the poor people through very powerful nonviolent methods.Nonviolence has more or less remained only as a method to protest but this is time to promote a nonviolent model of development, economy,governance and politics. I'm sure hundreds and thousands of like-minded people can come together to promote the agenda of antyodaya.

 

“World is waiting for the next Gandhi”.

 Article on “World is waiting for the next Gandhi”.

The behavior of political leaders around the world today is a matter of grave concern. Leaders across the political spectrum, be right wing leaders in America or left wing leaders in China or Russia, are all increasingly demonstrating dictatorial tendencies.  Anyone closely following global trends will notice that in many countries, including smaller countries like Myanmar and Belarus, there is a tendency for national leaders to make all efforts to keep power in their hands at any cost. One justification that we generally hear is that, to run a centralized economy dictatorial personalities are needed for taking unpopular decisions and curtailing dissent during implementation of those controversial decisions.

It is not difficult to see a reflection of these global trends at the national and state level. Not only the Prime Minister of India but also some current and previous Chief Ministers have concentrated all powers in their own hands and are using/have used their power to influence all institutions including the media. In spite of their anti-people style and behavior they are able to win elections. They also have significant following among the public who have complete faith in their style of leadership. Something has gone seriously wrong in our world in our collective understanding on the art of leadership. Certain dangerous ideas seems to have percolated our collective consciousness. Politics was meant to be a platform for organizing the society. Unfortunately the present day political leaders have failed to understand the original meaning and objectives of the idea of political work and are focused on everything other than organizing the society. Many young people in countries like India, France, US and Columbia are concerned about this development. They are interested to bring an end to this political culture. In a webinar held recently many young people were speaking about the need for a bottom-up process of leadership building. They were also speaking about decentralization of power so that local communities can take responsibility for their own destiny.  According to Mahatma Gandhi’s political philosophy, only when every individual is in a position to direct their own destiny while respecting the reality of mutual dependency in society, can we say that we have achieve freedom in real sense of the word.

One of the most surprising realities is that many people who have actively participated in long-term struggle in the name of democracy have finally ended up being small dictators themselves when power came into their hands. We only have to look around carefully to find hundreds of such examples around us. Take the example of India, those who are in power today were the people who fought against emergency that was imposed by Indira Gandhi. In terms of curtailing individual freedom, an environment fear permeating in the air, using all forms of institutional powers to curtail dissent today’s situation is in no way different from what we faced during emergency. Capturing political power through horse-trading, using all forms of institutional power available at hand to not only suppress the voices of people and media but also the voice of political opponents are all parts of the repertoire of interventions to manage an emergency. So the real test is not how vocally one raises their voice against dictatorial tendencies in others but the real test is how one behaves when one gets an opportunity to run the same show. I have many friends who are opposed to any kind of authoritarian rulers. They will even risk their life to fight such authoritarian regimes, but when I visit their organization or institution I can see hints of their authoritarian tendencies as a leader. They have absolutely no interest in sharing power with their team members and have no faith in a participatory method of governance.  They don’t even think the team members in the organization are of any worth. These leaders gave no opportunity to anyone who spoke about decentralization of power within the organization. Psychologically speaking this is a classic manifestation of mirror image or shadow image. Leaders who raise their voice against concentration of power and undemocratic decision making are often fighting against someone who looks or behaves like them. Often their fight is not against the values but it is against a particular individual. They are in competition with whoever is in power and their mind is craving to be in that position.

I have my reasons to be concerned about the leadership model in many organizations. I believe that just by speaking for democracy or speaking against dictatorship things are not going to change. Our efforts at transforming our social and political systems should begin from us and our organizations because this is the place where we can bring about the change we seek in larger society. If we can’t run a small organization of 20 or 30 people democratically and in a participatory manner what moral right do we have to raise hue and cry about democracy in India or in the world.  Doing so is in no way different from political parties who speak against suppression of opposition when they are in the opposition but then go on to suppress the opposition when they come to power. Didn’t BJP say that they will create a heaven on earth if they come to power? But now we can see that the situation is much worse than what it was before? They have created a society full of mistrust, hate and helplessness. Probably this is their concept of heaven. Hence I have come to conclude that political parties, organizations, or individuals speaking about democracy will have to first demonstrate their faith in democracy through their own behavior.

Gandhi repeatedly reminded us about the need for total harmony between what we speak and what we do. He acted up on an idea before preaching. The problem in our country today is that a lot of people are preaching democracy without any desire to practice them when opportunity is given. People are now waiting in every country for new set of leadership that can feel their pain and be part of them to emerge. They want a leader who can stand with then and lead them from behind. Unfortunately the present day political leadership only know how to fight elections and capture power. They have completely forgotten the most important objective of political power is to serve the people and organize the society.  I am sure many young people in the world will address these challenges not by speaking but through their action. World is waiting for the next Gandhi!!!

Rajagopal.P.V

28^th June 2021

My Field Visit Report at Pollachi, Attapadi and Palakkad during 30th Dec to 10th Jan 21.

 

My Field Visit Report at Pollachi, Attapadi and Palakkad during 30^th Dec to 10^th Jan 21.

I made a short field trip during 30^th December 2020 to 10^th January 2021 to visit Pollachi, Attapadi and Palakad areas to see some of the micro level activities supported by CESCI.

At Pollachi Mr. Dhanraj is the person who is doing some activities among the tribal population in that region.  While visiting his office at Pollachi and having discussion with him along with some of the tribal group members I had a feeling that he is doing his work in a serious manner for the tribal people’s empowerment. In-order to carry forward his work he is trying to draw support from his well wishers in kind and cash. In the first look I can feel that the tribal people who came to visit his office seem to be happy to associate with Dhanraj.

Prabhu is the field staff who is assisting Dhanraj in the field level. Rajalakshmi is a tribal leader, she is also helping Dhanraj to extend his work in the tribal hamlets.

Rural Economy Program - Pollachi

Dhanraj is proposing to support for rural economy programs in his working areas. Each group required Rs.25,000/- to initiate their activities, all together one lakhs. All of them belong to Kallar, Kadar, eravalar, Malasar tribal groups.

1.      Bamboo Basket Making

2.      Minor forest products collection

3.      Thatch leaf making

4.      Tailoring Unit

He is finding difficulty to start new bank account for all the groups as the banks are not actively supporting to start accounts for the new groups because of the Covid situation. He will try to send the Filled MSM application by the end of January 2021 if the banks cooperate.

Rural Economy Program – Attapadi

On the 31^st December, visited Thampu office at Attapati and had a brief meeting with Mr. Rajendra Prasad, Ramu, Ramesh along with Dhanraj to understand the status of Umbrella project supported by CESCI. The small initiative become a very popular activity among tribal area and are about 300 women are got engaged in this umbrella making program. Thampu also received support and loan from various circles to scale up this business activity. The overall impression is good and right now they are in the position of developing this umbrella activity as an independent rural economy program and they know the ways and means. After visiting one of their umbrella making unit, I can realize the kind of work what they did. They also have about some three to four lakhs materials stock available in those units.

 

Thampu want initiate another activity in-order to support more tribal communities by collecting minor forest products and doing some value addition process. They have already started the business plan making process. 

Rural Economy Program – Bodhi Palakkad

On the 9^th January I made a short visit at Bodhi to see the farmer’s cooperative who came to Bodhi as part of their monthly get together. There are about ten different organic products stalls were organized with their products. A session on food and system of body was also organized by a qualified ayurveda doctor. Various items made out of millets, organic grocery items, traditional medicinal products, soaps, products made out of local cows urine and dung, were very attractive. The committed couple Senthil and Sheeba was very active this time to include much more organic items into this get together. Krishna Kumar and Beena are fully engaged to coordinate all these activities.

Discussion with Ashokan Nenmara

On the 9^th evening I had a brief meeting with Ashokan Nenmara at Bodhi centre to understand his proposal on the South Asian Bike yatra under the banner of Jai Jagat and his idea to train youth groups in peace and nonviolence.  Ashokan is enthusiastic to carry forward both activities and he is expecting guidance and financial support from us. In-order to continue this process on the proposed ideas I requested Ashokan to write a short note on his ideas and a clear proposal on both programs. I also requested Ashokan to make a detailed plan on his travel plan and what exactly he is expecting from us to support in terms of coordinating the Bike Yatra. Similarly he will also make clear note and share with Rajaji what he is proposing to train young people in peace and nonviolence in Kerala, whether in four districts or two districts.

Remarks and conclusion;

In my observation the overall situation is good at all the three areas. There are some communication gaps in the reporting part, otherwise things are progressing well with a focus into our larger vision of rural economy and organic promotion.  At this point I propose that Pollachi and Attapadi tribal groups can work together under the leadership of Dhanraj and Rajendra Prasad to create a kind of cooperative in-order to support the tribal people in those areas. It can be like a procurement, processing, and marketing activity. (Note: They have to work as a team very seriously by getting support from experience people)

Looking to the status of Bodhi and their team, while they are creating an organic farmers cooperative in their locality we can also think about to support their work by giving one or two oil crushing machines which are not used at CESCI organics in Nagapattinam. So that all together this will become a kind of model of collection, production and market under the community leadership.

I am requesting them to prepare a concept note and business plan on their ideas and based on their business plan we can think about to provide some economic support to initiate these activities.

With thanks

Biju

Note: There is also a discussion is going on to reorganize South India Adivasi forum under the grassroot leadership program of Ekta Parishad. Rajedndra Prasad and Dhanraj are willing to take lead role in this process.