| Right to Food Campaign | ||||||
PEOPLES’ACTION FOR EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Siddiqui Building, Bara Hindu Rao, 6122, Bahadurgarh Road, Delhi -110006 Mob: Annie Raja - 09811553633, Subhash Bhatnagar - 09810810365, Navjyoti – 09811087811, Ph.- 23510042 Email: rozgar@gmail.com Correspondence Add: B-19, Subavana Niketan, Pitampura, New Delhi – 110034 22 February 2005 Dear friends, This update is being sent to all the organisations that participated in the “Display of Banners” for an Employment Guarantee Act on 21 December 2004 in Delhi, and to others to invite them to join this campaign and build it into an effective nation-wide movement. 21 December in retrospectThe demonstration was quite a success. More than 3,000 banners reached Delhi from all over the country (most districts sent at least one banner). The banners bore about 10 lakh signatures demanding the immediate adoption of a full-fledged Employment Guarantee Act. The banners were displayed on Parliament Street, in spite of strong objections from the police. Thousands of people participated in the display and a lively series of speeches, songs, plays, and other activities. The speakers at the rally included Suneet Chopra (All India Agricultural Workers’ Union), Sehba Farooqi (National Federation of Indian Women), Jayati Ghosh (Jawaharlal Nehru University), Madhuri Krishnaswamy (Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan), Surendra Mohan (Veteran Socialist), Swami Agnivesh (Bandhua Mukti Morcha), Hanan Mollah (Member of Parliament, CPM), Kuldip Nayyar (eminent journalist), Pramila Pandey (All India Democratic Womens’ Association), Vinod Raina (Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti), Aruna Roy (Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan), Subhash Bhatnagar (National Campaign Committee for Unorganized Sector Worker)s, Jai Bhagwan Jatav (Samajik Nyay Morcha), among others. A delegation of four (Aruna Roy, Sehba Farooqi, Suneet Chopra and Hanan Mollah) met the Speaker of the Lok Sabha with a memorandum. The demonstration ended with a unanimous resolution to continue the struggle for a full-fledged Employment Guarantee Act. The participants represented more than 125 different organizations at this event. The list of participating organizations is enclosed. Bill tabled in ParliamentAs it happens, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill 2004 (NREGB 2004) was tabled in Parliament the same day. However, this Bill is a pale shadow of earlier drafts. In fact, it is so weak that it defeats the purpose of an employment guarantee. The main flaws of the Bill are outlined in the attached “draft critique”, prepared for further discussion. Several other critiques are available on the internet (see below). The NREGB 2004 has been referred to a Standing Committee of the Ministry of Rural Development and a “Group of Ministers” has also been formed to examine the Bill in the light of recent criticisms. The Bill is likely to come back to Parliament sometime during the Budget Session. Follow-up meetingsSeveral meetings on Employment Guarantee have been held in Delhi since 21 December. On 21 December itself, an open meeting was held after the display of banners, and a follow-up meeting took place at the Indian Social Institute the next day. A number of other meetings have been convened by various organizations. Many suggestions of further activities have emerged from these meetings. These include: Further lobbying in Delhi Delegations will be sent to the members of the Standing Committee, the Group of Ministers, etc. It was suggested that the Central Trade Unions and their state units and other affiliates should be invited to join these teams. Letters could also be sent to the Petition Committee of Parliament, individuals Members of Parliament, etc. Local action- The campaign should approach peoples’ organizations all over the country to organize delegations of citizens to meet the Members of Parliament in their constituencies and demand early enactment of a full-fledged Employment Guarantee Act. - The campaign should facilitate local, regional, state level programmes such as rallies, dharnas, conventions, padyatras, postcard campaigns, workshops and other activities. - Pressure should be put on state governments to introduce Employment Guarantee Acts. - Some organisations propose to do field surveys to expose the unreliability of the “BPL list”. - The 3,000 banners displayed in Delhi on 21 December could be taken around the country for similar programmes in small towns etc. Action in “Food-For-Work Districts” What happens in these districts is likely to have an important influence on the debate about an Employment Guarantee Act. Also, there are special opportunities for grassroots mobilisation in these districts. Recent suggestions of possible work in these districts include: Organised demand for work; Monitoring of the works that are started; Ensuring the payment of minimum wages; Fighting corruption; Public hearings and social audits; Forming unions of labourers employed on FFW programmes. Prachar and mediaThe campaign will disseminate copies of the Bill tabled in the parliament on 21 December, its critique, essential changes, “primer” on EGA, etc. Translations of essential material in local languages should be arranged. Regional media will be approached for further dissemination. Consolidating the campaign- Efforts should be made to involve trade unions, students’ organisations, women’s organisations etc. in the campaign for an Employment Guarantee Act. - To build up the campaign it was decided to start regular meetings on each second and fourth Saturday of the month. At subsequent meetings of the Unorganized Sector Workers campaign it was suggested that the two campaigns could work hand in hand, to expedite the consolidation of mass participation in both campaigns. Subsequent activities in Delhi
Further materialA lot of useful material is available in the “Employment Guarantee” section at www.righttofoodindia.org. This includes: (1) a copy of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill 2004; (2) earlier EGA drafts; (3) critiques of the Bill; (4) many articles on employment guarantee; (5) a very readable “primer” on employment guarantee; (6) plenty of campaign material (articles, pamphlets, posters, etc.); (7) statements of political parties; (8) the memorandum submitted to the Speaker of Parliament on 21 December; (9) further details of the participating organizations (including contact addresses where possible). Plans for a separate website on employment guarantee are being considered. If you are interested in regular e-mail “updates” on employment guarantee please send a line to rozgar@gmail.com. If you don’t have access to e-mail and would like hard copies of some of this material, please write to this address. Future of “People’s Action for Employment Guarantee”“People’s Action for Employment Guarantee” began as an ad hoc “banner” for the 21 December 2004 demonstration. An attempt is being made to sustain this as an informal coalition for a full-fledged EGA. For this purpose a temporary “working group” was formed at the follow-up meeting on 22 December, consisting of one member of each of the following organizations: All India Agricultural Workers Alliance (AIAWA); All India Agricultural Workers Union (AIAWU); Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti (BGVS); Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS); Jan Sangharsh Morcha – M. P.; National Alliance of Peoples’ Movements (NAPM); National Federation Of Indian Women (NFIW); National Campaign Committee-Unorganised Sector Workers (NCC-USW); Nirman Mazdoor Panchayat Sangam (NMPS); Pairvi; Sanjha Manch; Right to Food Campaign Secretariat; Samajik Nyay Morcha. The working group is in the process of setting up a small secretariat at this address (Siddiqui Building), with the help of individual donations. Please consider circulating (and perhaps even discussing) this letter within your organization, after translation in local language if necessary. In solidarity, Subhash Bhatnagar Annie Raja Navjyoti (NCC-USW) (NFIW) (RTFC) on the behalf of the Working Group enc: List of participating organizations Draft critique of the NREGB 2004 Primer on EGA Monthly Meetings of People’s Action for Employment Guarantee
You can obtain the following documents from the secretariat on demand: 1. The Employment Guarantee Bill Placed in the Parliament on 21 December’2004. 2. A critique of the Bill submitted to the Standing Committee, with proposed essential amendments. 3. A “Primer” on the EGA. 4. The memorandum submitted to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha on 21 December 2004. Comments on these documents and suggestions for further improvement are welcome.
You can obtain the copy of the Petition from us or from email: nccusw@vsnl.net |
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