UPDATE 15: Special Update on Right to Work

Dear Friends,

The national week of action on right to work has begun with activities taking off in various states. To update you quickly of the background, over 50 organisations met after the public hearing "living with hunger" organised in Delhi. It was decided in the meeting that we should organise a week of action on right to work. The demand, by no means, is a new one. Many organisations expressed a desire to move towards right to work at the "Asian Social Forum", for example. In fact there was an active campaign for the right to work as long back as late `80s and early `90s. The campaign managed to put right to work firmly in the political agenda of the then ruling National Front. But for the untimely fall of the government, one would have gotten much closer to an employment guarantee. We include a `flash-back' of the campaign as a part of our special update on right to work.

As you would notice below, plans are afoot in various states including Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Delhi and Orissa. These are activities that have come to our notice. More events are in store positively that have not come to our notice yet.

The right to work in the form of an Employment Guarantee Scheme, or an Employment Guarantee Act runs as a common thread to these events. Beyond that there are marked diversities of concerns. Right to work as a means of avoiding child labour is a theme in Karnataka. Bonded labour, access to non-timber forest products, and migration are themes in Orissa. AIDWA's `Sangarsh sabha' gave the pride of place to `cheap grains' along with work, while putting the emphasis on the importance of right to work for women. West Bengal would concentrate on right to work for rural labourers with an emphasis on involving Panchayats. Drought and a proactive alternative to communal politics are the prime concerns in Rajasthan.

To look at the week of action in perspective, we should remember that it is not a one shot piece of action. Much has preceded it and much more is to come in the following months. It is worth recalling the "day of action on mid-day meals" in this juncture. The day of action organised on April 9, 2002 helped in putting mid-day meals in the agenda of various groups across the nation. It has since been followed with regular campaign activities in many states. We hope that the week of action on right to work would also lead to sustained campaign for the right to work across the country. We will keep you posted about these activities, but for the moment, let us turn our attention to activities on this week…

1. CAMPAIGN PLANS IN VARIOUS STATES

1. 1 WEST BENGAL

Constituents of the West Bengal Network will organise programmes in their own locality during the week and will culminate with a common public gathering on the 30th of April at Sealdah station in Kolkata. A deputation to the meet the Chief Minister is being planned to demand Right to Work and an employment guarantee act The Ganatantrik Adhikar Rakhsa Samity is organising a deputation to the DM of North 24 Parganas. Besides this, the Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity (PBKMS) and the Shramajibee Mahila Samity (SMS) are organising a series of street corner meeting before and during the week. During the week, they are organising Khula Manch at various places. 20 such programmes are planned in three districts of West Bengal. The Panchayat elections in West Bengal are being held on 11th May 2003. The PBKMS and SMS has therefore invited candidates of all political parties for the Panchayat elections and important political leaders and respected local citizens to place their views at these Khula Manch. They have been asked to give their views on the state of implementation of the Supreme Court order and on the need for legislation on the Right to Work for rural labour. Voters of the area have also been invited so that they can raise questions about the Supreme Court orders' implementation. In the month of March, the PBKMS and SMS had organised about 60-65 camps in various villages to receive complaints on non-implementation of the Supreme Court order. A report on the complaints from the area in which the Khula Manch is being held shall also be presented at each Khula Manch and the candidates, political leaders and other local citizens shall be asked to comment on the same.A workshop was also held in mid April with three theatre teams from the PBKMS and SMS and a tarja group (a popular folk form). The theatre teams and the tarja group have repared special performances on the Supreme Court order and the Right to work. These performances will take place at most of the programmes being held in this week by the Network and PBKMS and SMS.

1.2 KARNATAKA

The programmes in Karnataka warm up with a series of information sharing workshops on EGA. Each day, a different group will be targeted – youth, women, NGOs, Self Help Groups, and children. The events here take a different turn with an emphasis on Employment Guarantee to prevent child labour. The highlight of the week leading to May 1 will be a `child labour rally' at Yashwantpura, Bangalore. These events will be capped with a rally in front of `Vidhan Saudha' (the legislative assembly) on May 1. The rally will draw participants from all over the state. Similar events are also being organised in some Districts, of which we hope to hear soon.

Preceding these events, much preparation has gone including working with the National Law School to work on an employment guarantee act for Karnataka; preparing songs and other cultural events, and in reaching out to a large number of groups to support an Employment Guarantee Act.

1.3 RAJASTHAN

The week of action has been preceded by much activity in Rajasthan. Elaborate `padaytras', `dharanas', rallies and other activities have been done in different parts of the state already. During the week of action per se, the main activity would be organised on May Day.

Constituents of Akal Sangarsh Samiti will organise various activities including reaching out to the villages about employment guarantee, organising rallies at the district level, meetings, public hearings and a host of other activities. Many of them will also be organising activities during the week highlighting the need for an employment guarantee.

The plan of action continues well beyond the week of action. During 1 – 20 May, there are plans to get resolutions passed in Gram sabhas and ward sabhas on right to work. The organisations will endeavour also to reach out to politicians and administrators at various levels to submit petitions for an employment guarantee. Each organisation will undertake to approach the local Panchayat samiti, zilla parishad to demand the guarantee. People will be encouraged to write post cards to the chief minister demanding an employment guarantee.

Finally, efforts will be made to press the Government of India for a centrally sponsored employment guarantee programme.

A massive rally is being planned on June 13 at Jaipur to mount pressure on the government to go for an employment guarantee. Keeping the urgency of drought in mind, the groups have also decided to press for open-ended employment during the month of June in Rajasthan.

Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) has been actively engaged in the campaign for right to work and has organised various activities already. This year, right to work will form the chief issue of their May Day celebration. Their annual "Mazdoor Mela" (labour mela) will be organised in Bhim, Rajasthan. The event will be marked by songs, and skits, films and discussions, speeches and resolutions. Strategies will be examined for the Right to Work Campaign in general, and the specific and immediate demand for an Employment Guarantee Act in Rajasthan.

The fact that this is an election year has affected the campaign in Rajasthan in a couple of significant ways. One, the campaign has intensified and a larger mobilisation is expected given the opportunity to put pressure on the polity. The second consideration has been the growth of communal politics. The campaign for the right to work is seen as a proactive means for keeping the electoral discussions on issues that matter and thus reduce the space available for communal politics. This is reflected eloquently in the theme slogan for the May Day celebration of MKSS "Trishul nahin, Talwar nahin, kam ka adhikar chahiye". This has also been the slogan of many other organisations in Rajasthan this year. The occasion will be used to finalise the draft of "people's manifesto" for the upcoming assembly elections in the state.

1.4 MADHYA PRADESH

Pockets of activity are being planned in different parts of Madhya Pradesh. Unfortunately we do not have detailed information about them. The Right to Food Campaign per se has been gradually stepping up in the state since the past few months. In a meeting convened during 22 – 23 Feb, it was decided by the participating groups that they would organise events in at least 10 Panchayats each during the week of action. This was reinforced in a recent meeting at Indore where various organisations from across Madhya Pradesh participated. Some of them have undertaken to organise events on May Day. We hope to bring you more detailed information shortly about the plans in the state.

1.5 ORISSA

The Malkangiri leg of right to food - right to work campaign, will hold a `camp court' to release the identified bonded labour in the district. Awareness camps will be held in villages on the Bonded Labour Abolition Act as a part of the week of action. This will culminate in a Bonded labour convention at the district headquarter where release certificates will be provided to the freed bonded persons and demand will be placed in front of district administration for their right to work and long term rehabilitation. The convention was originally planned as a `May day' activity, but has been advanced to April 30th for logistical reasons.

Identifying bonded labour has been happening at a campaign scale in Malkangiri and it is the first district in Orissa to complete the process of identifying bonded labour. The process is happening in collaboration of ActionAid and the district administration. It is hoped that right to work will be one of the means employed for rehabilitating bonded labour.

Further activities include release of report on food insecurity status based on studies in Kalahandi, Bolangir and Nuapada. A public hearing is being organised on 29th April in Sambalpur on wages for picking Kendu leaves. This is an activity that many poor women in western and southern Orissa depend on. Kendu leaf is a non-timber forest product, the collection of which is contracted to specific agencies. These agencies have been able to exploit the poor by regulating their access to forests. The public hearing would concentrate on "payment of timely, equal minimum wages". Another public hearing is to be held in Thuamul Rampur block on issues of hunger.

On 1st May, a public hearing would take place at Kantabanji in Bolangir on distress migration and exploitation of migrant wage workers in western Orissa in general and Bolangir in particular. This will be followed by a state level workshop on May 4, 2003 at Bubaneshwar. This would be an occasion for sharing the results from various public hearings that were held as a part of week of action across the state.

2. CAMPAIGN PLAN OF THE COMMISSIONER!

The commissioner, Dr N C Saxena, is on a campaign track himself, though not as a part of the week of action. He is taking up the issue of use of machines in employment sites. Large-scale use of machines has been reported from Andhara Pradesh among other places. One Poclaine (the trade name of an excavator) can displace about 800 man-hours of employment in a day. The use of labour displacing machines is illegal in relief work sites, but this continues to happen in various places. Based on a complaint from Madhya Pradesh, an enquiry is being ordered into the use of machines in certain sites in Barwani district. Similar action is being taken on Krishna district of Andhara Pradesh where large-scale use of Poclaines has been reported. Complemented with active civil society vigilance, an active campaign could be started to eliminate the use of machines in SGRY and other employment programmes.

Another measure under consideration is to ask governments to promote labour intensive techniques in public works. Remarking that even in small states about Rs. 100 crores is being spent on excavators each year, Dr Saxena has been remarking about the potential for creating additional employment at little cost. On many occasions following labour intensive techniques would not even lead to additional costs. The combined displacement of labour is potentially staggering if a combined estimate of displacement is considered in departments including public works department, rural engineering services, irrigation, national highways project, and a host of other such public works. If taken up by the commissioner, it would add a significant colour to the campaign in time to come.

3. AIDWA DEMANDS RIGHT TO WORK

AIDWA organised its massive "Sangharsh Sabha" at Mavalankar Hall in Delhi. AIDWA has been pursuing the agenda of `Universal PDS' on a campaign track for many months now. The slogan of the massive gathering of well over a thousand women was "We want cheap grains and work". Women from all over the country participated in this one-day meeting and they were joined by a host of public figures including Harkishan Sing Surjeet, Capt. Lakshmi Shegal, Prof. Abhijeet Sen among others.

Prof. Abhijit Sen, who chaired the committee on `Long term grain policy', asked the gathering in a humorous vein why he has been invited, after all he was someone who chaired a `sarkari committee'! He went on to reiterate that many of the days demands were also reiterated by the committee viz. universal PDS, increasing the employment opportunities, expanding Antyodaya Anna Yojana for the destitute, etc.

AIDWA's `Sangarsh Sabha' was possibly the only reflection of the demand for right to work in the Capital during the week of action. In a short while, we should be able to share the full report of the gathering as well as other such things that are happening round the country.

4. A FLASHBACK INTO THE RIGHT TO WORK CAMPAIGN OF `80s

Late `80s and early `90s were a witness to an active campaign for the right to work inspired by the Employment Guarantee scheme of Maharashtra. The campaign was active across the country with hundreds of participating organisations. Many participants during that period are taking an active part in week of action that is on currently.

Some of the notable events organised as a part of the campaign were a massive rally of about two lakh people in March 1988 in Delhi, a national convention in 1990 where about 300 organisations participated, and a host of activities organised at the local level by various groups. The convention led to a Right to work struggle front with the intention of campaigning for a national legislation on right to work. A memorandum prepared at the convention for the then finance minister, Mr. Madhu Dhandavate included the following points:

1. A change in government's economic policy in favour of labour and fostering labour-intensive methods 
2. Assigning highest priority to agriculture and rural development by allocating 50 % (as opposed to 22%) of government's investible resources. 
3. Promoting labour intensive small scale industries 
4. Reverting all common properties in rural areas to village community for control and utilisation for employment generation. 
5. Effective and speedy land reforms 
6. Using 20 % of Eighth plan financial outlay for an employment guarantee programme.

The campaign succeeded in making right to work the prime agenda of the National Front government that was formed under V P Singh. The plan may well have materialised but for the fall of the government. The change in government undermined a lot of work that had happened already, pushing back the efforts of the campaign by some years. The campaign has successfully promoted awareness about the Employment Guarantee Scheme of Maharashtra and about using this form of employment being an effective means of securing the right to food and promoting rural development. It should also be recognised that this campaign was among the pioneers in taking the `right based approach'. It clearly articulated the advantage of right to work over typical employment programmes. Today the `right based approach' has gained more adherents. We pay a tribute to the work done over a decade ago and hope that the week of action on right to work will take over where the campaign was left a few years ago.

5. THE MISSING PIECES

A fairly broad set of organisations are actively involved in the week of action, but support for it extends well beyond those who are currently organising the events. National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) and its constituents, for example, have taken up right to work as one of their agenda. This was also formally endorsed in their national meeting on March 28 at Lucknow. A large number of other organisations have endorsed the need for a campaign on right to work. It is expected that many of them would take up activities in the months to come for the right to work.

Much effort has gone into getting the complete picture of what is happening where regarding the campaign. We are aware that there will be many gaps and much activity is not represented in this mail. We request you to kindly inform us of activities that we have missed in this mailer. We are committed to bring as complete information as possible to you regarding activities around the country. We will cover other events in another special update before the 1st of May.

5.1 CHATTISGARH & JHARKHAND

For the groups in Chattisgarh, the "week of action" is as long as 12 days! Elaborate plans are being made in different parts of the state during May 1 – May 12 as a part of the "week of action". We will bring you up to date information in the next update about the plans and activities in Chattisgarh.

Plans for taking up the issue of right to work on a long-term basis is on earnestly in Jharkhand. Events are to be organised in at least three different districts in full scale and a state level meeting will be organised at Ranchi on May 1st.

News about Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and other states are expected to reach us soon. In the meanwhile, we request you to inform us if you are planning something in your respective areas so that we can disseminate it within May 1 for the benefit of all our co-campaigners.