Dear friends,

This is another special update on "employment guarantee". Much is happening on that front, with the possibility of an Employment Guarantee Bill being tabled in Parliament next month, but also many possible hurdles ahead. The forthcoming "day of action on the right to work" (16 October) could not be more timely.

Special efforts are being made by various organisations to develop, improve and disseminate campaign material on Employment Guarantee. We would appreciate it if you can let us know of any materials that you have developed, so that we can share our resources widely. Also, please let us know of any activities you may be planning on Employment Guarantee, especially (but not only) on 16 October - just send a line to righttofoodindia@gmail.com

Today's headlines:

1. LATEST MATERIAL ON EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE

2. CONVENTION ON EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE (19 September 2004)

3. FOLLOW-UP CONVENTION ON 19 OCTOBER (Delhi)

4. PLANS FOR THE DAY OF ACTION ON 16 OCTOBER

5. DEMONSTRATIONS IN SONEBHADRA ON 10-11 OCTOBER

6. IMPORTANT PETITION ON EGA

7. STEERING GROUP MEETING ON 30 OCTOBER

1. LATEST MATERIAL ON EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE

Efforts are on to expand the "Employment Guarantee Acts" section of the campaign website (www.righttofoodindia.org), to help local organisations involved in the campaign for guaranteed employment. Campaign material produced by different groups is being added almost every day, and Hindi translations are on the way. Further material is always welcome - just send a line to righttofoodindia@gmail.com with the relevant material attached.

The following are already available on the site:

(1) Draft Employment Guarantee Acts (EGAs), including the draft prepared by the National Advisory Council (NAC) as well as an improved draft dated 1 September 2004.

(2) A two-page summary of the latest EGA, in English and Hindi - particularly useful for public discussions of EGA and local dissemination.

(3) Compilations and summaries of comments received.

(4) Proceedings of the convention on "employment guarantee and the right to work" held in Delhi on 19 September.

(5) A whole range of booklets, pamhplets, leaflets, posters, etc., with more to be added soon.

(6) A growing collection of articles on EGA (already featuring C.P. Chandrasekhar, Jayati Ghosh, Mihir Shah, C. Rammanohar Reddy, P. Vijayshankar, among others).

(7) A petition addressed to the Prime Minister.

Please consider using this material, suitably adapted and/or translated, to spread awareness of the issue in your own organisation or area.

2. CONVENTION ON EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE (19 September 2004)

A lively convention on "employment guarantee and the right to work" took place in Delhi on 19 September. Over two hundred persons affiliated with various trade unions, political parties, social movements, NGOs, academia, the Planning Commission and other institutions participated in the convention. Speakers in the opening plenary included Prabhat Patnaik, Nikhil Dey, Abhijit Sen, B.N. Yugandhar, Tapan Sen, Ashim Roy, Anand Kumar, N. P. Sami, Suneet Chopra, Shankar Singh, Mariam Dhawale, Aruna Roy, Jairam Ramesh, Pradip Prabhu, Gawali, Sandeep Dixit, Sehba Farooqi, Tularam Sharma, Madhuri Krishnaswamy, Roma, Kavita Srivastava, Siddharth Varadarajan, Anuradha Talwar, among others. The dominant theme of the presentations was a strong commitment to united action for an Employment Guarantee Act.

Draft proceedings of the convention are available on the campaign website (http://www.righttofoodindia.org/rtowork/egaconvention.html), along with the list of participants and related information.

3. FOLLOW-UP CONVENTION ON 19 OCTOBER (Delhi)

A follow-up convention is planned for 19 October 2004, also in Delhi. Representatives of the major political parties will be invited to clarify their party's stand on the proposed Employment Guarantee Act, and to share any concerns they may have. Confirmed speakers so far include Sitaram Yechury (CPM), D. Raja (CPI), Jairam Ramesh (Congress), Ashok Gehlot (Congress), Jayati Ghosh, Suneet Chopra, Arundhati Roy, Prabhat Patnaik, Aruna Roy, among others.

This convention, convened by SAHMAT, will take place at the Constitution Club (Rafi Marg), from 3 pm to 6 pm. All are cordially invited - please consider attending this important event. For further details, please contact Rajan at SAHMAT (tel 2371 1276), Smita Gupta (smitajee@yahoo.com, tel 2618 5918) or Navjyoti (navjyoti@hotmail.com, tel 9811087811).

4. PLANS FOR THE DAY OF ACTION ON 16 OCTOBER

Demonstrations for an Employment Guarantee Act are expected to be held in many places on 16 October (World Food Day), as planned at the Bhopal convention last June. Some organisations have decided to demonstrate on other days, close to 16 October, to suit local conditions. Further information will be circulated before 16 October, and posted on the campaign website (www.righttofoodindia.org). A sample of expected activities follows:

(1) In Rajasthan, various organisations active in Akal Sangharsh Samiti are planning "symbolic applications for work" at Panchayat, Block and District headquarters. People will present themselves at the administrative offices and demand to be registered for employment. This will be accompanied by street theatre, songs, distribution of pamphlets and other means of reaching out to the public and building up further support for an Employment Guarantee Act.

(2) In Madhya Pradesh, a broad coalition or organisations is planning to conduct local meetings on 16 October to spread awareness of the Employment Guarantee Act and mobilise public support. For this purpose, a list of common "non-negotiable demands" has been prepared at a recent meeting held in Bhopal (see www.righttofoodindia.org/data/eganonnegotiablesmp.doc). After local meetings, groups will proceed to submit a memorandum demanding the immediate adoption of an EGA. Rallies will also be organised to demand transparency in employment programmes. At the state level, a memorandum will be given to the Chief Minister and press conferences will be organised on October 14 and 17. For further information, please contact the organisations that participated in the planning meeting: BGVS (asham_200@yahoo.com), Jagrit Dalit Adivasi Sangathan (madhuri93@rediffmail.com), CITU, CPIM, AIDWA, SOPAN, Sampark, Vigyan Sabha, People's Research Society, ActionAid (sachinecasrg@hotmail.com), Sopan, Insurance Employees Association, Parhit, Centre for Integrated Development, Spandan, Baiga Mahapanchayat, Samhit Vikas Samiti, Debate, Muskan, NIWCYD, Bachpan, Sangini.

Apart from this joint action on 16 October, several organisations in Madhya Pradesh are planning further action independently. Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti (BGVS) will take up large-scale mobilisation at all levels from the Panchayat to the State. The campaign plan includes mass education about the Act and mobilisation in support of Employment Guarantee, including public meetings at all levels. Mass printing and dissemination of posters and pamphlets on Employment Guarantee is also being planned.

(3) State conventions on EGA are expected to be held in various states either on or around 16 October. A state convention has already been held in Jaipur on 29 September, and another one is to be held in Bhopal on 16 October.

(4) Paschim Banga Khet Majdoor Samity (PKBMS) and other organisations in West Benagl have planned a series of activities in the run-up to the day of action on 16 October. This month-long programme of activities started with a well-attended state convention on 22 September 2004. A postcard campaign has been started, with messages to the Prime Minister demanding the immediate adoption of an Employment Guarantee Act. More than 3,000 have already been sent from five districts of West Bengal. Shramjivi Mahila Samity along with PKBMS are organising delegations in about twenty-five blocks covering six districts. The delegations will continue between October 4-10, 2004. In these districts, twelve-hour dharnas will be organised on different dates between 8 and 15 October 8-15, and a 24-hour state-wide dharna will be organised on 15 October. All programmes will involve delegations to the block authorities and appeals to the Prime Minister.

(5) National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) is taking up the cause of women's employment. NFIW has pointed out that the Common Minimum Progarmme (CMP) promises guaranteed employment for "100 days per household per year" only. The formulation of guarantee at the household level is likely to lead to the marginalisation of women in the employment guarantee programme. NFIW has demanded that the guarantee should be provided to each individual; and if the guarantee is given to households, there should be effective reservation for women. A dharna was organised on this issue on 3 October at Delhi and a letter has been sent to the Prime Minister demanding at least 40 % reservation for women (in the current scheme of things). A convention prominently featuring employment guarantee will be held with secretaries from all states on 29 October, to be followed by widespread mobilisation at the state-level.

(6) A state consultation on EGA is being organised by National Council for Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) in Andhra Pradesh. The consultation is expected to have widespread participation from Dalit organisations, trade unions and other civil society organisations. For further details please write to ncdhr@vsnl.com or geosudha@yahoo.co.in

(7) Further mobilisation is expected in other states around the day of action. We hope to bring you further news in the next update that is coming soon.

5. DEMONSTRATIONS IN SONEBHADRA ON 10-11 OCTOBER

The following message has been received from Sonebhadra (Uttar Pradesh): "Following reports of starvation deaths in Jharkhand are similar reports from Uttar Pradesh which is also experiencing a drought. Here too the government does not seem to have any serious plan of action other than making statements. Even if the Employment Guarantee Act does get implemented, initially it will cover only 150 districts in the country. This means that for many areas the battle for employment security is a long one. In Sonebhadra district of Uttar Pradesh, starvation deaths have been occurring since last few years, independently of the drought: it is a result of the snatching of sources of livelihood (especially land and forest resources) from people. On 9 October, 2004 Kaimur Kshetra Majdoor Kisan Mahila Sangarsh Samiti, a local organization, will hold a big demonstration in Robertsganj, Sonebhadra on the issue of the right to work, PDS system, providing food to all, combined with the issue of restoration of their land and forests. All are invited." For further details, contact Roma at romakdeep@rediffmail.com

6. IMPORTANT PETITION ON EGA

A petition on EGA has been prepared and circulated by Jayati Ghosh, Smita Gupta and Vikas Rawal of Jawaharlal Nehru University. The petition is addressed to the Prime Minister and demands the immediate adoption of an Employment Guarantee Act. Please consider taking the time to add your signature to this important petition - it just takes a few clicks of the mouse (see http://www.petitiononline.com/ega04/petition.html).

7. RIGHT TO INFORMATION CONVENTION (8-10 October 2004)

Employment guarantee and the right to work will be prominent themes at the forthcoming national convention on the people's right to information (Delhi, 8-10 October). Special slots on employment guarantee are expected in the plenary sessions, and a workshop on "right to information and employment guarantee" is also expected.

Over 500 participants are expected from all over India, and another 500 or so from Delhi itself. The convention will start with a national public hearing on the public distribution system (PDS) on 8 October at R.K. Puram. A series of thirty workshops will be organised in the next two days on the application of right to information in diverse fields such as displacement, environment, corporate responsibility, PDS, nuclear issues, etc. On 9-10 October, the convention will be held at the Arts Faculty, Delhi University, north campus. For further details please contact Arvind (20033988), Vishaish (9818345439), Sowmya (9818505853), Anjali (9811558533), Nikhil/Salim (9810884111) or Venkatesh (9871050555) or ncpri2004@yahoo.co.in

8. STEERING GROUP MEETING ON 30 OCTOBER

The next meeting of the steering group of the right to food campaign will be held on 30 October 2004 (2 pm to 6 pm at "HRLN conference room", A 16 Jungpura Extension, New Delhi.]). The proposed agenda includes consolidation of the campaign for an Employment Guarantee Act, further action on the public distribution system, preliminary discussion of the next "convention on the right to food and work", and other issues that may be raised by the participants. This is an important meeting, as the organisational frame of the campaign seems to be loosening at a time when the need for effective action is greater than ever. A special appeal for active participation in this meeting of all concerned organisations.