UPDATE 21

Dear friends,

There have been important developments relating to the Commissioners' work in recent weeks, and this special Update is an attempt to brief you on this.

After a relatively slow take-off, the Commissioners' work is beginning to reveal its full power and potential. The power of the Commissioners (and their "advisers") came to light mainly in Madhya Pradesh, in the wake of public hearings and other events. Issues raised by the Commissioners have elicited swift responses from the concerned authorities, and in many cases of violation of Supreme Court orders, redressal has been obtained. Of course, there is a long way from case-by-case redressal to systemic accountability, but this is at least a step forward. The tempo is likely to increase further in the near future, following the recent induction of Mr. S.R. Sankaran as co-Commissioner, with Dr. N.C. Saxena.

 Strictly speaking, the Commissioners' work is not part of the "right to food campaign". It is an independent structure set up by the Supreme Court for monitoring and redressal purposes. But naturally enough, there is a close relationship between the two, and the Commissioners are quite sympathetic to the campaign. This update attempts to give you a taste of their work (see also the "Commissioner's work" page on the website, www.righttofood.com).

The website has just been upgraded, you may wish to take a look in any case. We take this opportunity to thank Aparajita Goyal for the new design.

Today's headlines:

1. MR. SANKARAN SWINGS INTO ACTION

2. COMMISSIONERS: BRIEF OVERVIEW

3. THE MACHINE MENACE

4. FROM MONITORING TO REDRESSAL

5. CONSTRUCTIVE ADVICE: ANOTHER ROLE OF THE COMMISSIONERS

6. MADHYA PRADESH TAKES THE LEAD

1. MR. SANKARAN SWINGS INTO ACTION

As mentioned in the last update, Mr. S.R. Sankaran has recently been appointed as co-Commissioner of the Supreme Court, with Dr. N.C. Saxena, for the purpose of monitoring orders relating to the right to food. Mr. Sankaran, who is based in Hyderabad, proposes to concentrate initially on the southern states of India, as well as on Orissa and Maharashtra. He has a special interest in issues of employment guarantee and minimum wages. For the time being, the Commissioners may be contacted at "commissioners@vsnl.net", or c/o Shonali Sen (their research assistant) at shonalisen@hotmail.com. Fuller contact details for the Commissioners will be posted on the campaign website (www.righttofood.com) very soon.

 2. COMMISSIONERS: BRIEF OVERVIEW

The Commissioners (Dr. Saxena and Mr. Sankaran) were appointed by the Supreme Court on 8 May 2002 and 2 May 2003, respectively, to monitor Supreme Court orders relating to the right to food (PUCL vs Union of India and others, Writ Petition [Civil] 196 of 2001). The Commissioners are empowered to enquire about any violations of these orders and to demand redressal, with the full authority of the Supreme Court. They are also expected to report to the court from time to time.

In each state, an "assistant" is supposed to have been appointed by the state government to liaise with the Commissioners. In addition, the Commissioners have appointed their own "advisors" in some states.

In the case of Karnataka, for instance, the "resident commissioner of Karnataka in Delhi" is the designated assistant to the Commissioners, and Mutthappa is the "advisor".

 Since it would be impossible for the Commissioners to take up all complaints on a case-by-case basis, they tend to focus on issues that are likely to have a wider impact. For instance, the Commissioners have taken up policy issues such the coverage of Antyodaya Anna Yojana and other social security schemes, delays in the implementation of mid-day meal programmes, and the use of labour-displacing machinery in relief works (see below). Occasionally, the Commissioners also taken up specific, ground-level cases of violation of the right to food, especially when there is a potential for "demonstration effects". Currently such interventions are on in Sheopur and Sendwa of Madhya Pradesh. The Commissioners also respond to reports and complaints sent by the "advisors", who are closer to the situation on the ground.

The nature of complaints that can be appropriately sent to the Commissioners and their advisors was helpfully discussed by Madhya Pradesh groups at a workshop held in Dewas in November 2002. The following criteria were suggested, among others: (1) the facts

Should be well documented, (2) local redressal mechanisms should be exhausted, (3) there should be a potential for wider impact, e.g. through demonstration effects.

Among the issues currently receiving scrutiny from the Commissionersare: progress of mid-day meal schemes, labour displacement in relief works, the larger issue of right to work, expanding the coverage of pensions, payment of minimum wages, the issue of subsidised exports, and a host of other issues arising from the ground. Some of these are further discussed below.

For a more detailed introduction to the Commissioners' mandate, concerns, activities, etc., see the "Commissioners' Work" section on the website (www.righttofood.com). See also the periodic reports submitted by the Commissioners to the Supreme Court, also available            on the website. The fourth report of the Commissioners is due next month.

3. THE MACHINE MENACE

There have been frequent reports about the use of labour-displacing machines in relief works and employment programmes. For instance, tractors have been widely used in relief works and the Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana, and excavators are extensively used in

Highway construction projects. Reports of large-scale use of machines have come from Andhra Pradesh, parts of Madhya Pradesh, and other parts in the country. In many cases, these labour-displacing machines defeat the purpose of "labour-intensive" wage-employment programmes. In such programmes, the use of labour-displacing machines is officially banned, but the ban is often ineffective.

Public awareness and active vigilance are key to ensuring that machines are not used in employment programmes. The Commissioners are lending their support to this effort, indeed they have taken the initiative. For instance, reacting to reports from Barwani (Madhya Pradesh) recently, Dr. N.C. Saxena has asked for an enquiry. He has also insisted on public accessibility of the enquiry's findings, and of muster rolls and other records pertaining to the employment of labour on public works.

Another measure under consideration is the preparation of district level gazettes that would list all the employment projects to be taken up in a district. This would help us know where projects are `being implemented'. The Commissioner has also written to the states asking them to commission an officer at the state level who would put information on projects on a website no later than a month after it is sanctioned. This would help concerned citizens and organisations to identify `ghost projects'. The Commissioners have also directed the states to maintain a book of complaints (based on letters, newspaper reports, petitions, etc.) pertaining to illegal uses of machines on public works. This can potentially serve as a single point through which the Commissioners' interventions could be based.

The Commissioners are striving to make the governments review current policies and ensure that labour-displacing machines are discouraged if not out rightly banned. For instance, the state governments and the Government of India have been asked to appoint a review

Committee each consisting of engineers, economists, state relief secretary and members of civil society to look into the possibility of substitutinglabour for machines in public works. The committee is expected to scrutinise the works undertaken by a range of departments such as public works, irrigation, and rural engineering services. The committee would examine the cost implications of such substitution, list out works where labour could be substituted for machines withlittle or no addition to costs, and consider additional measures to promote the use of labour intensive techniques.

The response of the Government of India and the states remains to be seen. We will keep you updated on this. Meanwhile, comments and suggestions on this issue are welcome. They may be sent to Shonali Sen (research assistant to the Commissioners) at shonalisen@hotmail.com.

4. FROM MONITORING TO REDRESSAL

Unspent resources that end up being returned to the exchequer are a common phenomenon in India's development programmes. In many cases, timely and effective utilisation of funds would mean that larger funds are subsequently made available for the relevant programmes.

Using periodic returns and performance reports submitted by the state governments, the Commissioners have been trying to press for effective utilisation of funds allocated to food-related programmes. In a recent case, some labourers in West Midnapore (West Bengal) had petitioned for work, yet work was not provided to them in spite of unspent funds being available.

In such situations, the question has been – what is the redressal?  As an experiment, the government of West Bengal has been asked to give the petitioners compensation equivalent to a hundred days of work, if the district had not used 90% of available resources. If procedures such as these become institutionalised, there is a prospect of moving beyond "monitoring" to "redressal". Similarly, in many districts, beneficiaries of the Annapoorna scheme have been under-identified. The government has been asked to complete the process of identification and to pay a monetary compensation worth one year of "subsidy" (10 kgs of grain per month, free of cost) for depriving the beneficiary of the entitlement due to later identification. Further experiments with concrete redressal mechanisms are on the cards in various places.

5. CONSTRUCTIVE ADVICE: ANOTHER ROLE OF THE COMMISSIONERS

The PUCL petition, and subsequent "interim applications" to the Supreme Court, stress the importance of a strong social security system to realise the right to food. Much work has gone into expanding and improving the Antyodaya Anna Yojana. Other schemes that have proved relatively effective on the ground, in many states, include social security pensions such as pensions for widows, the elderly, and disabled persons. Field reports suggest that there is much potential for effective use of pension schemes as a tool of

Food security. However, as things stand the coverage of pension schemes is quite limited in most states. Much needs to be done to expand the coverage, especially for groups such as widows who are among the deprived.

The role of the Commissioners is not just to oversee theimplementation of existing orders, but also to propose and foster lasting steps towards the eradication of hunger and undernutrition. In this spirit, the Commissioners have been advocating an expansion of pension schemes in the Supreme Court. Plans are afoot to take agenda forward in the next few months.

 6. MADHYA PRADESH TAKES THE LEAD

 In recent months, the Commissioners' work has been making specialheadway in Madhya Pradesh. This is partly because of the active involvement of Dr. Mihir Shah, advisor to the Commissioners for Madhya Pradesh. Recent events there suggest that the tremendous authority of the Commissioners partly devolves to the advisors as well, in so far as the advisors have the ear of the Commissioners themselves, and therefore, indirectly, of the Supreme Court. Even the simple act of copying a complaint letter (addressed, say, to the local District Magistrate) to the Commissioners and/or their advisor seems to have remarkable effects in terms of ensuring a prompt response from the concerned authorities. This reflects the "fear" of the Supreme Court among civil servants, and the fact that the Commissioners effectively represent the Supreme Court in this context. This is a lesson of major importance for other states, especially those with relatively "dormant" advisors. Some recent initiatives and achievements in MP:

 (a) In Dindori, following the Jan Sunwayi on the 8th of June 2003 at village Dhaba, block Samnapur, there has been encouraging progress the decisions taken by the administration that day. The Baiga Mahapanchayat that organised the Jan Sunwayi has informed Dr. Mihir Shah that the district administration has moved fast on distribution of Antyodaya cards to all members of the Baiga "primitive" tribe as per the latest order of the Supreme Court. The process is expected to be completed soon. As a direct result of the Jan Sunwayi, employment programmes have also begun in many `forest villages', where they had been stalled for years due to restrictions imposed by the Forest Department. The District Collector has sent Dr.Mihir Shah a copy of his instructions to all line departments to take urgent steps to act upon the nearly 50 complaints received during the Jan Sunwayi from the Baigas regarding non-payment of wages, corruption related matters, etc. The Baiga Mahapanchayat, the organiser of the public hearing, is closely monitoring action on this.

 (b) In Sendwa, the follow-up has not been as encouraging as in Dindori, but there is indeed much movement happening there. The state government has immediately issued clarificatory orders relating to use of labour-displacing machines and have issued instructions about provision of muster rolls and other documents. The collector has also been directed to submit a detailed report regarding the issues raised by the commissioners. In the meanwhile, the district administration has reportedly swung into action saying `this is a bomb dropped by the Supreme Court and we have to act in coordination if we have to survive'. Various senior officers have been in touch with the complainants, Advasi Mukti Sangathan, and are trying to persuade them to agree to some soft options like dismissing some junior officers. The sangathan is launching an andolan against the district collector who has not been responsive to any of the demands raised by the gram sabhas, and by the commissioners.

 (c) In Sheopur, a team led by Shonali Sen has done detailed investigation of one chosen panchayat – Hirapur, details of which were sent in the previous update (the report will shortly be uploaded in the website). With constant attention from the campaign, the district is geared up to issue Antyodaya cards to all Sahariyas,  Baigas, other primitive tribes in the district, aged without, and widows without support. A plan of action is being made in coordination with the advisor to the commissioner, to ensure that there is follow up to the report on Sheopur. Some of the issues taken up will be improving the accessibility of muster rolls and other basic documents, improving the mid day meal programme, ensuring that Antyodaya cards are distributed and grains are provided, and pressing for at least an employment guarantee in the region.

We are doing our best to ensure that more information on the commissioners' work is available in the website. We urge you to consult the section on commissioners' work regularly. If you would have any further queries, please write to Shonali at  shonalisen@hotmail.com.