Indian
Express: Bhim: Saturday, 02 May 2015.
After 25
years of sustained struggle that yielded key legislations such as the Right to
Information, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and social
audits, Bhim in Rajsamand district, which has been the crucible for the
movements, is all set to embark upon a new journey to mobilize workers unions
in the unorganized sector.
The Mazdoor
Kisan Shakti Sangathan, a workers and peasants organization, set up in Bhim in
1990 by three like-minded activists Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey and Shankar Singh now
at the turn of its 25th year is poised to push for a ‘mazdoor union’ apart from
unachieved legislations such as the Right to Food, Right to Hearing, Right to
Healthcare.
As workers,
peasants and activists that have been associated with the organization since
its inception gathered in Bhim on Friday to observe its 25th anniversary on May
Day, it chalked out its way forward with a clear vision of coming up with a
workers union in the unorganized sector, a proposal that the previous Ashok
Gehlot government had turned down and has so far found no taker in the new
Vasundhara Raje government either.
Former
National Advisory Council member and social activist, Aruna Roy, said, “About
93 percent of the country’s workforce is in the unorganized sector and they
have no workers’ union. Be it the domestic worker, masons, daily wagers, they
have no collective voice. In the coming year, we will focus on a cohesive
mazdoor union, where several smaller organizations can come together. Whether
it will have a new separate identity or the smaller organizations will continue
to work as independent entities, we will decide in due course of time. But the
idea is clear in our minds.”
The
organization that fought for RTI, MNREGA and social audit apart from their land
struggle, today finds the rights based legislations being threatened. “After so
many years of struggle to get rights based legislation, now the present
government is summarily dismissing it. They are attempting to dilute the NREGA,
trying to avoid accountability and therefore not maintaining minutes of
meetings that can be accessed through the RTI. For years we strove to increase
people’s engagement with the government and this new BJP government is closing
off this very engagement. They cannot deny us consultation. Say for example the
land ordinance, which was drafted without any consultation with farmers or
activists working on the ground,” said Roy.
“It is
frustrating to hear the Prime Minister say that NREGA is a monument of failure.
It is ironical that recently when the state witnessed unseasonal rain and
hailstorm and there was a major crisis, it had to fall back on NREGA jobs in
the crisis-hit areas, that too when this very state government had written to
the Center to dilute the norms of the Act,” added Nikhil Dey. “On our part we
are continuing to use these rights based legislations as a tool to implement
other legislations. For example we are filing RTIs in all government schools
across the state to see their compliance to the Right to Education norms.”
The state has
also seen opposition from sitting sarpanches to social audits of the NREGA
recently. Speaking to the Indian Express, Saumya Kidambi, Director, Society of
Social Audit, Accountability and Transparency, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana,
said, “It is ironical that the state that has been the birthplace of social
audits is yet to see it institutionalize and is instead meeting with opposition
from the state government and also sarpanches. Undivided Andhra Pradesh and now
both Telangana and AP have about four to five schemes that have social audits
being done by the Society. There has been great political will that has enabled
its implementation. In the process we have detected fraud of upto Rs. 250
crores in both the states out of which so far we have managed to retrieve Rs.
25 crores.”
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