Power,
Reality & Dream Merchants
By Aman Namra
22 April, 2004
Charkha
Dream
merchants have again arrayed pawns & pieces of dreams and promises
on the chessboard of Indian election. Common masses are being lured
and beguiled by both the major parties-Congress & BJP-in their own
way that all their problems will be solved this time if they are voted
to power. Long forgotten words like health, home, equality, education
and employment etc. have again been found, dusted and washed and used
for decorating the document called Election Manifesto. This probably
is the most opportune time for putting the stark reality vis- a- vis
dreams and make the necessary inferences. Lets try to cast a glance
how true the dreams included by various political parties in their manifestoes
are when compared to the ghastly realities of India.
Lets first
have a look at the tall claims made by the ruling coalition led by BJP
which aspires to come to power on its own strength after these elections.
The NDA manifesto says that the coalition will remove unemployment and
poverty; provide education, health, water and home to every one; make
true the dream of an ideal village; empower women apart from accomplishing
the second green revolution and take development to its peak by good
governance. BJP has also claimed that it would turn India in to the
food factory of the world and will achieve world class status for India
in education, technology and health. On the other hand, Congress, the
party that has ruled the country for more than a decade and is now panting
owing to exhaustion, that is again using the Nehru-Gandhi family for
making it to power and has adopted the slogan Congress ka haath,
Aam aadmi ke saathin this election promises employment; 33 percent
reservation for women in assemblies and the parliament; right to equality
to the Dalits and the vulnerable sections of the society; strengthening
economically six lakhs Indian villages; and 10 percent rate of growth
by introducing economic changes in agricultural and industrial sector.
These are the promises
and the dreams being sold to the electorate by those who were or are
in power. Now, lets see the ground realities. In a survey conducted
in five states, of which three are newly constituted, we tried to know-Why
despite all people welfare schemes of the Central & state Governments,
common masses are suffering from lack of even basic facilities? What
is the reality of the fascinating statistics of development & growth
at the village level? In this survey, conducted in M. P., Rajasthan,
Chattisgarh, Uttranchal & Jharkhand at panchayat and village level,
we asked public representatives and common people three kinds of questions
with the intent of knowing the reality of implementation of various
schemes underway for the development of rural women, rural children
and the poor and vulnerable sections of the society. The findings of
this survey are enough for making the ruling parties ashamed of themselves
(though, they seem to have lost that human characteristic!). These findings
also present a true picture of real India and its basic needs. This
picture could well be used for constructing the contours of a vision
for a new India.
Lets first
take the field of education. We asked the sarpanch about their educational
qualifications. 31 percent of them were illiterate, while only 3 percent
turned out to be post graduates. Only 19 percent panchayats had educational
facilities up to high school, while 67 percent of them didnt even
have the basic rural facilities like Aanganwadi. We asked why children
drop out from school and whether they help in domestic work; and we
found very depressing answers. Are the power merchants listening? 31
percent children cited the increasing pressure of agricultural work
as the reason for their dropping out from school; 25 percent said they
couldnt continue their studies for lack of money and 15 percent
said they had to do their share of work at home. We also tried to know
the reasons why so many children are never enrolled in schools. According
to 60 percent children who have never crossed the threshold of a school
said it was because of poverty. Votaries of India Shining!
Please, lend your ears to these innocent voices of the Indian children!
And now, lets have a look at the kind of works rural children
do in their homes and fields without being bonded laborers and getting
any money as wages. 25 percent of school-going children help their parents
in agricultural work; 21 percent look after their younger brothers and
sisters; 17 percent have to bring fodder for cattle stock and 15 percent
have to fetch fuel wood for hearths so that meals could be cooked. This
is the miserable condition of the rural children in terms of education
and they are rhetorically hailed by the political leaders as the glorious
future of our country! Congress has been in power in these five states
for four decades and now while making the tall claim of transforming
the lot of six lakh villages of India; itll have to answer the
simple question-During past forty years, how many villages saw their
lot changed for the better by the efforts of Congress? BJP also will
have to answer how many ideal villages have been created by it in the
past decade, for it has now been in power in four of these five states.
Now, lets
talk about the condition of women. According to this survey conducted
by a Delhi based organization Charkha, despite the myriad claims made
by the Government, 76 percent rural women feel that their basic health
requirements are not being fulfilled at the Panchayat level. Because
of lack of facilities, 32 percent of these women have to seek succor
from Ojhas, Gunis and Babas. 44 percent of women who are aware have
also to depend upon the help provided by their elders or traditional
rural nurses i.e. dais. Both the parties are claiming they would provide
reservation to women in assemblies and the parliament; but the Panchayat
is the first stair in this hierarchy and theyve already been given
reservation in these institutions and they are now part of the power
game here. The moot question, however, is Is their voice heard
or listened to on these fora? 64 percent of women say that they are
not given any opportunity in the Gram Sabhas for articulating their
views. Does it really feel good to know this fact? The Government
has made all kinds of declarations for the benefit of pregnant and mother
with new born babies. But do the rural women really benefit from these?
63 percent women say they hardly get any facilities in Aanganwadi centers.
As far the social condition of women, 40 percent rural women are beaten
by their drunken husbands; 29 percent women are persecuted in families
for not delivering a male child and 18 percent women live in a state
of utter neglect in health matters. But these women have hope in future
and possess high levels of confidence as active agents of social change.
96 percent of them are of the view that the role of women is crucial
for the development of the village and the panchayat and they are determined
to perform that role.
And now a glance
at the poor and the downtrodden. In last five years, changing their
lot has been the prime slogan of the ruling parties. In their name,
a whole bunch of people have been able to change their own lot and these
unfortunate millions remain as they were. The Government is running
all kinds of schemes and projects worth thousands of crore rupees in
the name of the tribals, the dalits, rural development, employment,
women, health, home and drinking water etc. On an average, in a panchayat,
there are more than 100 such schemes launched by the Central and state
Governments and other organizations. During this survey, we just wanted
to probe whether the poor have in any way been benefited from these
massive exercises. 56 percent of the rural poor have not received the
benefit of the Indira Awaas Yojana and even among those who have, it
is difficult to identify whether they are genuine cases or not. But
thats a separate matter. The Government has entrusted the responsibility
of distributing rations to the poor at cheap prices. Because of the
negligence of the state Governments in this regard, the Supreme Court
of India had to order streamlining the public distribution system and
to make details of its functioning public in a regular manner. What
effects this order or the subsequent efforts of the Govenments had on
the PDS was revealed during this survey. In only 7 percent of the panchayats,
details of the fair price ration shops are made public regularly, while
in 34 percent panchayats it is an occasional phenomenon. Regarding the
use of money received for the development of the Panchayats, about 50
people think these funds are used under the influence of the nexus between
Sarpanch, Panches and Secretary and influential local people. The consequence
of such use of these funds is evident from the fact that 80 percent
of the rural people migrate out of villages for one single reason-lack
of employment at their native place. There are several employment schemes
being run in rural India in the name of erstwhile and present Prime
Ministers. Who are their beneficiaries?
And finally, lets
also have a look at the basic facilities made accessible to the rural
people in this country of villages. Of the total 213 villages of the
five states covered under this survey, only 45 percent had electricity,
while 70 percent didnt have any pucca roads. 75 percent of the
villages remain completely untouched by any traces of communication
revolution.
Though this survey
presents just a brief snapshot of the Indian villages, yet it convincingly
reveals that the power merchants can be asked to submit their report
cards in the light of the findings of this survey. For more than fifty
years, people have hoped, waited, kept their patience; but the need
of the hour now is that they should comprehend and analyze their situation
on a realistic plane and shouldnt invest power in to those who
have all along been betraying them with false dreams and hollow promises.
They should actively participate in democratic process at every juncture
and be their own masters. Otherwise, the dream merchants will go on
beguiling them and may be forever with ever newer arrays of dreams on
their chessboards.