The Wire: Sawai Madhopur: Thursday, February 25, 2016.
The ongoing
Jawabdehi Yatra across Rajasthan by the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan has
helped thousands of people lodge complaints with the state government against
the non-delivery of services, firming up the group’s demand for an
accountability law for public servants.
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The Jawabdehi Yatra bus. Credit: The Wire/Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty
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The Sawai
Madhopur railway station in Rajasthan doesn’t let you overlook the fact that
for most people getting off there, Ranthambore National Park is the preferred
onward destination. Images of tigers adorn its walls a clue as to why hotels,
resorts, eateries and curio shops have mushroomed in and around the Sawai
Madhopur town in the last few years.
This would
explain why my cab driver couldn’t quite hide his surprise when I told him that
my destination was Gandhi Park in Tonk town, the headquarters of the
neighbouring district. He rolled out the names of some forts and palaces that I
could visit on my way to Tonk.
The
one-and-a-half-hour drive from Sawai Madhopur to Tonk was bumpy and rambling,
but the mustard fields alongside the road made up for the discomfort. Mustard
and wheat are the two main crops of this belt. In Uniara, the driver pointed to
a plot of mustard fields, saying, “That’s mine.” But the lack of a good price
for the crop has forced him to drive a taxi.
In Tonk town,
just outside Gandhi Park not far from the office of the district collector (DC)
I saw a white sleeper bus adorned with Rajasthani dolls and a banner attached
to its front, that read: Jawabdehi Yatra.
The yatra
Flagged off
from Jaipur on December 1, 2015, the bus, along with a van and two jeeps, has
been carrying about 70 people across Rajasthan as part of the Suchana Evam
Rojgar Adhikar Abhiyan (Right to Information and Employment Drive) of the
state’s well-known grassroots organisation Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan
(MKSS).
The bus had
already travelled through 17 districts when I saw it at Gandhi Park, and will
complete the remaining 13 districts before arriving back at Jaipur for a public
rally on March 1, completing 100 days on the road.
The yatris
comprise members and volunteers from MKSS, the Delhi-based NGO Digital
Empowerment Foundation (DEF), a network of voluntary organisations from Gujarat
called Janpath and Ahmedabad-based collective Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel
(MAGP). Over the 100-day journey, with the help of local organisations, the
yatris are seeking to mobilise public support for a jawabdehi kanoon, or
accountability law, for public servants in the state, and help people record
complaints regarding the non-delivery of facilities promised through various
schemes and acts. The grievances will then be submitted to each district
collector’s office to upload in the state portal called Rajasthan Sampark.
Over 5000
complaints recorded
Inside Gandhi
Park, a crowd had gathered. Women of various ages in colourful ghagras and
dupattas shared the space with men, also young and old, in dhotis and pagris,
jeans and jackets. An MKSS worker announced in Hindi why the yatra has come to
their town:
“We
don’t represent any political party. We are asking questions of the Rajasthan
government on behalf of the people. Why doesn’t every eligible individual get
the state pension? Why are there no rations for the needy? Why are there no
teachers in our children’s schools? Why
is there no water in the taps? We are demanding a law that makes public
servants accountable. The salaries of officers will have to be deducted if
services are delayed because of them. If a collector’s child goes to the same
school as yours, won’t the school have teachers then? If they use the same
hospitals as yours, won’t doctors be there? If you are with us, raise your
hands…”
With a group
of young volunteers in tow, MKSS veteran Shankar Singh emphasised the message
of rights against rampant inequity through a series of songs and a street play.
To the sounds of the dholak and dong, they ask the government to answer:
“Jawabdehi
yatra se sawal puche re, bolo kyun nehi re? Sashan walon jawab do sab ko ration
nehi mile, aishi bhi janganana kyun? Jhuk gaye garib kyun, aisa kyun, sashan
wale jawab do! Neta bhi chale re, collector bhi chale re, dhakka pehl
chale. Dilli mein Bharat sarkar, Jaipur
mein raj Sarkar, dhakka phel chale!”
The crowd
swayed to the slogans, clapping and nodding. Meanwhile, a queue had formed around
the corner; people had lined up with bundles of papers and cards of different
colours issued by government authorities promising facilities like rations,
housing, shelter and jobs. Some have received just a fraction of what has been
promised; others nothing at all.
Zambian Bhil,
who was present at the rally, said, “For generations, my family made a living
from dancing bears on the streets. Some years ago, when we had to deposit our
animals, the government promised us an alternate means of livelihood. It also
promised us housing. Nothing has been provided. I now work as a casual labourer
while my son drives a rickshaw. I want to ask the government, when will I get
what was promised?”
Tonk has a
sizeable population of Bhil adivasis, most of whom were traditional breeders of
bears for public entertainment. Zaman’s story echoed many such along the queue.
“We
don’t get regular rations. 5 kgs of wheat is allotted per person per month as
per our ration card. But what you get in hand is 5 kgs per family every two
months,” said Abu Mian Bhil.
Manzil
Bhil added, “My family has suddenly stopped getting rations. We now get only 5
litres of kerosene every month. Why does the government think we can live only
on kerosene?”
Chandi Bai,
in her 60s, was baffled as to why her red card had suddenly been replaced by a
blue card by the local authorities. Little did she know that the state
government has rejigged the PDS beneficiary list to pull out over a crore of
families from below the poverty line to above it, claiming that the previous
Congress government had included excess names. While according to the National
Food Security Act (NFSA), the government needed to identify the needy for food
rations through the 2013 Socio-Economic Caste Census, now it is distributing
new ration cards based on the 2002 census.
Banwari Bai,
76, had come to the rally with a different complaint: no aadhar card, so no
ration. “I have my antyodaya card; I am a widow; I don’t earn anything. So why
am I denied my rations?” she asked a DEF volunteer. The DEF, alongside
submitting the grievances to each DC’s office in the form of a CD, is also
digitising the data in order to track the grievances and evaluate the
efficiency of the government in resolving them.
Also in the
crowd was 68-year-old Sankriti Kaur Rajput. She joined the yatra in Ajmer as a
volunteer and had been travelling in the bus since. “It is for our good,” she
said, “Take my case. I have a pension card which is supposed to give me 500
rupees every month. But no pension has come to me for the last six months.” The
bus stayed in each district for three days. So far, Sankriti Kaur had traveled
through 15 districts in the bus.
By afternoon,
hundreds of forms had been filled. Shishir Purohit of DEF told me, “Since the
yatra began, we have recorded over 5000 complaints.”
A little
distance away from the queue stood the van that has been accompanying the
yatris. Provided by MAGP, the van – named ‘RTI on Wheels’ is meant to be a
window for people to learn about the Right to Information Act and how they can
use it to get information from state departments. A motley crowd surrounded it
in curiosity.
But all has
not been smooth. An independent filmmaker documenting the proceedings faced the
brunt of a mob attack. Kamal from MKSS told me, “A BJP MLA from Jhalawar
district, Kanwar Lal Meena, led a mob attack on us in Aklera on January 16.
They broke one of his [the filmmaker’s] cameras that was recording the attack.”
Some arrests have been made in the case, but the MLA, whom the eyewitnesses say
led the mob, is still not an accused a reason for palpable anger among the
organisers.
Later in the
day, well-known MKSS activist Nikhil Dey led representatives of the
organisations associated with the yatra to the DC’s office, while the others
made a procession through the town. In the hour-long discussion with Tonk
collector Rekha Gupta around the ‘main issues of ration, education, pension,’
hitches in the effective implementation of a range of government schemes came
to the fore. The yatris put forth the following complaints made by the people:
problems in PDS due to faulty machines (20% of them are not working in the
district as per the DC’s office), the violation of the NFSA due to
technicalities (such as no aadhar, no ration) and the sudden removal of names
from the ration list, the lack of playgrounds, boundary walls and functional
toilets in schools, the lack of facilities in government hospitals, and open sewage.
The next day,
when the yatris conducted nukkad sabhas in the district’s Mankala, Uniara and
Chot Ka Bhawara areas, the grievances were the same. In Choru village near
Mankala, several school girls talked about being beaten by the police last
October for staging a dharna seeking the appointment of teachers in their
school. In Chot Ka Barwara, people noted their mobile phone numbers in a
register so that they could be informed about the progress of the initiative.
Many also donated whatever money that they could to fund the yatra.
The
struggle continues
Speaking to
The Wire, Dey said, “The state government has slashed 1.4 crore households from
the BPL list. It is a bloodbath. Half the complaints we have received during
the yatra are about food rations. Again and again, we are hearing about people
wrongfully removed from the ration system. This is the most poor and vulnerable
lot.” In the meeting with the Tonk collector the previous day, as in meetings
with other DCs, he insisted that the authorities paint on the walls of ration
shops, the lists of beneficiaries and how they were selected, so people could
get the right information.
About the
MKSS’s demand for an accountability law, the activist said, “We are seeking a
law on the lines of RTI where penalties are stipulated for an official in case
of delay in delivery of services. We also want an independent framework for
sorting out public grievances. A draft bill is already in place.” Like the
movement for the RTI act, he says that the MKSS does plan to take the campaign
for the accountability law across the country, “but as of now, we want to get
Rajasthan on board.”
By late
evening, the yatra entered Sawai Madhopur town. I made a quick stopover at a
roadside dhaba to taste the town’s famed namak ki chai. A few SUVs carrying
tourists no doubt back from the evening safari at the National Park zoomd past,
little knowing the everyday struggles of the people living in these areas.
By the time I
caught up with the yatris in Sawai Madhopur town, they were at a dharamshala,
all set for a hot meal and a night’s stay.
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