UPDATE 31 (Part 2): CAMPAIGN BOUNCES BACK

Dear friends,

Many of us needed a little nap after the fever of the Bhopal convention (11- 13 June 2004), but campaign activities are expected to bounce back during the next few weeks. The main object of this update is to appraise you of recent developments and forthcoming activities.

Today's headlines:

1. HIGHLIGHTS OF THE BHOPAL CONVENTION

2. KEY DECISIONS OF THE CONCLUDING PLENARY

3. STEERING GROUP TO MEET ON 22 AUGUST

4. DRAFT EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE ACT TO BE RELEASED

5. FIELD SURVEY OF ICDS

6. STARVATION DEATHS IN WEST BENGAL AND MAHARASHTRA

7. WEBSITE RENAMED AND UPGRADED

The Bhopal convention on the right to food and work (11-13 June 2004) was a great opportunity to share experiences and ideas. About 500 activists from 120 organisations joined the convention from all over the country and spent three days in lively discussions, workshops, cultural activities, and a public rally. Crucial themes included the right to work, land rights, the public distribution system, children's right to food, Dalit perspectives, gender issues, the agricultural crisis, and legal action for the right to food, among others. The proceedings of the sessions are being processed and will be posted in the new campaign website (www.righttofoodindia.org) as soon as possible, in English and Hindi. Meanwhile, a crash account of the event is available in the last issue of Frontline (see http://www.flonnet.com/fl2114).

The run-up to the convention was also an opportunity for different organisations to prepare udpated material such as booklets, posters, pamphlets, etc. There were thick crowds around the stalls where this material was displayed and the more jazzy items (such as a giant poster on recent Supreme Court orders, prepared by the Human Rights Law Network) went like hot cake. If you are interested in getting hold of some of this campaign material, please send a line to right2food@yahoo.co.in

The convention was not just gup-shup (idle talk). Several workshops and plenaries concluded with key decisions about future activities. More on this in the convention proceedings and future updates. Meanwhile we proceed with a brief account of some of the decisions taken at the concluding plenary.

The closing plenary was held on 13 June. The discussions had to be concise if not hurried since the participants had to leave for a public rally as early as 10.30 am. Some issues, particularly relating to the organisational aspects of the campaign, clearly required further discussion. However a consensus was reached on some key decisions:

A country-wide "day of action on the right to work" will take place on 16 October, 2004 (World Food Day). The key demand is immediate adoption of a National Employment Guarantee Act.

The participating organisations also agreed to join forces for a week to assert children's right to food, with a special emphasis on the universalisation of ICDS. This week of action is due to start on 14 November 2004 (Children's Day in India), and to culminate on 20 November (Universal Children's Day).

A "land occupation day" will be planned (possibly on 10 December) to take further the issue of land rights. This will be preceded by public hearings on violations of land rights.

A rally on the public distribution system (PDS) to be organised in Delhi.

Further issues and activities that emerged from different workshops will be taken forward by the participants of the respective workshops, and/or the working groups that were formed. For instance, participants at the workshop on "drought and survival" decided to launch an attempt to revise the so- called "Famine Codes" of different states and demand that the revised Codes should be given legal status. Similarly, the workshop on the right to information resolved to put pressure on the government to notify and amend the national Right to Information Act.

On organisational issues, the plenary endorsed a proposal that emerged from two earlier sessions held at the convention. The main points are:

a. A provisional "steering group" will be formed, for a period of one year or so (until the next convention).

b. The steering group will consist of one member from each of the 11 national networks that initiated the Bhopal convention, plus members of the "support group" that are not part of these networks (to ensure some continuity).

c. All organisations represented in Bhopal will be "permanent invitees" of the steering group.

d. The basic role of the steering group is to facilitate the process of mutual support among the organisations involved in the campaign. Specifically, the steering group is expected to: (1) facilitate the next convention; (2) ensure the smooth flow of information within the network; (3) initiate a process of wider discussion of the organisational aspects of the campaign, and prepare a proposal on this for the next convention, and (4) possibly, take up advocacy with the central government.

As a follow-up to the Bhopal convention, an informal meeting took place at the Indian Social Institute in Delhi on Monday 12 July. The meeting was a little chaotic but we did manage to decide that the first meeting of the new "steering group" would take place on Sunday 22 August, probably in Delhi. Further details will be circulated as soon as possible.

A decision was taken, at the Bhopal convention, to prepare a "draft national employment guarantee act". Some progress has been made on this front, and the draft is due to be released on Friday 16 July with the following public statement:

"We urge the UPA government to immediately enact a National Employment Guarantee Act, as promised in the Common Minimum Programme. To foster public involvement in the formulation of this crucial legislation we invite wide discussion of the enclosed draft Act."

As this Update leaves the launchpad, a drive is on to collect endorsements for this statement. Endorsements have already been received from leading members of many organisations committed to the right to work, including Kashtkari Sangathan, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), Communist Party of India (CPI), National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), National Campaign Committee for Unorganized Sector Workers, Unorganised Workers Federation (Tamil Nadu), Nirman Mazdoor Panchayat Sangam (Tamil Nadu), Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan, National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), National Alliance of People's Movments (NAPM), Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA), People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Indian National Building Construction Workers' Federation, Khetihar Khan Mazdoor Sangathan (Chittorgarh), among others.

If you are willing to endorse the statement, please send a line to workforall@rediffmail.com by Friday 16 July latest (the latest version of the draft Act is available at www.righttofoodindia.org, in the "right to work" section.)

A major field survey of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) was conducted in May and June 2004, under the auspices of the Commissioners' office. The survey took place in six states: Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. Field investigators, mainly volunteers from university colleges, spent six weeks making unannounced visits to anganwadi centres around the country and interviewing the parents of enrolled children. Preliminary results indicate that Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have reasonably good anganwadi centres and are already quite close to universal coverage of children under six. At the other extreme, the ICDS programme in Uttar Pradesh is a resounding flop: anganwadi centres are closed most of the time, few services are provided even when the centres are open, and there is rampant corruption from top to bottom. Detailed findings, to be published later this year, will be used to strengthen the campaign for universalisation of ICDS as per Supreme Court orders. If you are interested in this study please send a line to icdsstudy@yahoo.co.in

There have been distressing media reports of starvation in West Bengal and Maharashtra in recent weeks. We are pasting a few relevant links below:

http://news.google.co.in/news?hl=en&edition=in&ie=UTF- 8&q=%22starvation+deaths%22+%22west+bengal%22

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=7712 49

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3577361&thesection=news&t hesubsection=world

http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/july132004/i6.asp

For now, the website remains accessible at the old address (www.righttofood.com) also.

Efforts are on to upgrade and update the website in the light of the Bhopal convention. This will take a little while. The "right to work" page is likely to be substantially expanded during the next few weeks, you may wish to keep an eye on it if you are working on this issue.

Recent additions include: new material in the "right to work" page, including a draft National Employment Guarantee Act; a "field report" on starvation in tea estates of Assam and Kerala; and articles by Jayati Ghosh, Utsa Patnaik, Suman Sahai, among others.