Thought for the day
"After
all is said and done, more is said than done"
-
Aesop (Greek, 620-560BC)
Word for the day
Malarkey (n)
Speech or writing
designed to obscure, mislead, or impress;
(Source:
Dictionary.com)
Malice towards none
Imagine if there
was 24*7 media to report Gandhi vs. Subhash, Nehru vs. RML/Kriplani, Indira vs.
Syndicate, Morarji vs. Jagjivan Ram, and Rajiv vs. V. P. Singh.
Kejriwal vs. PB/YY
would have looked like a non-event in that case.
Fast and furious
In a refreshing 8 day
break from routine activities, I travelled to tribal areas of Central India
covering 12 districts of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and
Jharkhand. During my discover India trip in summer of 2013 I had to skip these
areas due to Naxalite attack on local Congress leaders.
Along with the teams of
Equal India Foundation and couple of more NGOs, I traversed through the
interior most areas in Bhandara, Gondia, Seoni, Mandla, Bilaspur, Korba,
Sitapur, Gumla and Ranchi belts.
The larger objective was
to assess the mood of tribal people over recent legal changes regarding land
acquisition and mine & mineral development policies. However, I spent some
time assessing the economic, social, cultural and political changes taking place
in the area.
I would like to briefly
share my observations and findings with the readers.
*
The tribal populace in general is poorly
informed (mostly misinformed) about the recent changes in laws relating to land
acquisition and mines & mineral development.
*
The socio-economic changes that are taking place
in these areas are much faster and furious as compared to the changes taking
place in urbanized areas.
*
The conflict between generations regarding
preservation of environment, culture and traditions is rising much faster.
*
Politically BJP has definitely lost some ground
in MP and Chhattisgarh. The ground is fertile for AAP kind of political
movement in these states. Especially in Chhattisgarh, where tribal population
outnumbers the non-tribal urban population, the existing strong NGO network
could be easily exploited to set up a political organizational very fast.
Congress still appears to be de-motivated, though Vyampam scam has provided
some fuel to local leadership.
*
Bihar elections are not just about Bihar for both
BJP and Congress.
Extreme confusion prevails over legal changes
Insofar as the latest changes
on land acquisition law and law relating to mine & mineral development, the
local population is poorly and mostly mis-informed. A large number of
functionaries of political parties, administration, and various NGOs operating
in the area are campaigning aggressively but not in an objective manner. The
information campaign is mostly motivated and colored with vested interests.
The people, mostly poor
(extremely) & illiterate are disillusioned and are feeling lost between
contradictory claims and counter claims. Interestingly, Most of them refuse to
believe that no money may actually flow into bank accounts.
The detailed findings
and suggestions on this aspect will be presented in a report being prepared by
the concerned NGOs, that I will be happy to share with my readers in due
course.
The brief points worth
noting in this regard are however as follows:
(a) The local populace
in general is not at all against industrialization. The younger generation in
fact is enthusiastic about the prospects of better employment opportunities
near home.
(b) The colonial model
of resource exploitation adopted so far is the primary cause of worry.
(c) The governments
and the civil society functionaries have mostly failed in protecting the
interests of local populace in their negotiation with industrialists and
project developers.
Socio-economic changes - fast and furious
The most interesting
observation during this trip was the furiousness of the socio-economic changes
that are taking place in the tribal milieu. I found the rate of change much
faster than metro cities.
In these areas, the
consumption pattern, communication, jargon, daily schedule, commitment towards
families, environment, traditions, culture etc. all are changing at perhaps the
fastest rate in history.
(a) The people are
definitely much more aware about the "civilized" world outside their
forest.
(b) The effects of
better connectivity, electricity and mobility are conspicuous.
(c) The younger
generation is constantly at conflict with the older generation on the questions
of loyalty and devotion to the "Forest God" and tribal traditions.
(d) Besides, mobile
phone, Maggi, pasta, detergent, mosquito repellent, biscuit, fried snacks, tea,
cigarette, scented hair oil, fairness cream, nylon/polyester, denim, condoms,
tooth brush, deodorants, pirated DVDs could be found abundantly in use in
villages situated 5-7kms away even from the kuccha MNREGA road.
(e) The use of plastic
and thermacol containers and plates in place of earthen pots and banana leaves
is rising at ominous pace.
(f) The thatched roof
is giving way to tin sheets. This is increasing the average temperature through
reflection of sun rays, and endangering the small and soft vegetation that
holds the soil tight in the surrounding areas. Similar development in hill
areas has been cited as one of the primary reasons for rise in instances of
landslides.
(g) Through
repatriation of money and merchandise from the immigrants, the barter economy is
metamorphosing into a market economy, to the detriment of local artisans and
cottage industry.
(h) Social
infrastructure is still in shambles. Health and education infrastructure is
mostly limited to primary level. The quality of teachers and health workers is
pathetic.
Generation X is moving out and bringing in changes
We have previously seen
this in Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala etc. where the young people just wanted
to move abroad. At whatever cost.
The tribal areas of
Central India are witnessing the same phenomenon. The youth, who is exposed to
city life, just want to move out, at whatever cost. Lack of education and
skills mostly lands them in exploitive jobs like construction labor, domestic
help etc. in metro cities.
The wealth transfer
through repatriation of money by these immigrants is accelerating and ushering
vital changes in villages. The government is mostly absent in this endeavor.
An interesting finding
here is that unlike Punjab and Andhra Pradesh where the father was a rich land
lord and the child wanted to emigrate abroad, here the father is poor and
helpless guy and the child is trying to make his life better.
In Punjab and Andhra
Pradesh the parents were not dependent on the emigrated child and therefore
could live life at their own terms.
Here the child wants to
dictate terms. This is giving rise to conflict. Industry and politicians are
seeing this conflict as an opportunity and want to push through their motivated
agenda. This would have not be possible if the Generation X was as loyal and
devoted to the nature and environment as the previous generations have been.
Politics - BJP weaker, opportunity for AAP type movement
Lastly, I tried to
assess the impact of recent allegations over state leadership of BJP in
Chhattisgarh and MP.
In both states anti incumbency seems to be setting in fast. The
mishandling of various allegations of scams by the state governments has added
to the anti BJP mood.
However, fortunately for
BJP the elections are not around the corner and the principal opposition
Congress is still in declining phase. BJP therefore has ample opportunity to
set the things in order.
The general feeling
amongst learned people in the area is that if BJP losses in Bihar, whether due
to opposition uniting against it or due to infighting amongst its local
leadership, it will reflect badly in all three central states (MP. Chhattisgarh
and Jharkhand).
A poor show by Congress,
though expected, might pave way for yet another non-BJP non-Congress front at
national level thereby making revival of Congress even more challenging.
Chhattisgrah and
Jharkhand have a unusually large civil society setup. A large number of NGOs
supported by local and foreign funds operate in the states. Most of these NGOs
have a natural left leaning, though right wing RSS affiliates also have
material and reputed presence in the area.
Creating an AAP kind of
movement in these states would not be difficult. In fact it could be done much
faster than Delhi.
It would be interesting
to see if a local Kejriwal emerges in next three years.
Trivia
As per media reports the
conscience of the nation is deeply hurt by the racist remarks made by BJP
minister from Bihar.
In my view this racism
is deep rooted in our society. The proof is that "fairness cream" is
one of the fastest growing cosmetic product in both male and female categories!
The BJP top leadership
has warned its elected representatives to mind their language while talking in
public, but no one dare told anyone not to have racial, casteist and religious
prejudices.
The protesting Congress
dealt with Shriprakash Jaiswal and Beni Prasad Verma in similar fashion last
year and Abhijit Mukherjee in 2010.
JDU has defended Sharad
Yadav only recently.
The list is endless and
so is the malice.
