Two steps forward, half a step... forward?

Immediately following the SKMS dharna, I was down with diarrhoea for 2 days. I had been fine during the summer and monsoon in Sitapur, so to be brought low in the winter was surprising. Thankfully, the dharna was over, so I could concentrate on rehydration and rest.

Things were better on the Sangathan front – account numbers were being collected for payment of the unemployment benefits and work had started in many villages. Of course, there are problems. In Mishrikh and Pisawa, the 3-day camp for job cards started off badly with the Block office asking for just the list of people who needed job cards. No application forms were available and no photographer was present. After a little wrangling, the process improved in Mishrikh over the next 2 days.

On another front, there were rumours that the BDOs who were to receive suspension orders had gone to court. And soon the news came out that they had indeed filed a writ petition in the Lucknow High Court, claiming conflict-of-interest by committee members, labourers incorrectly deemed eligible for benefits etc. The bench mainly ruled on whether the Commissioner at the Ministry of Rural Affairs was the responsible authority with powers to overrule decisions at the district level. They deemed that he was and asked him to review the additional documentation presented by the BDOs within 10 days. They also asked him to ensure that eligible families received the unemployment benefit as they were entitled to. This was a better outcome than many in the Sangathan and among its supporters had expected and the mood was upbeat.

At the village level, there are still problems with work not being made available, applications not being received etc. But some people, at least, have learnt to demand their rights. In one Gram Sabha, a few hundred people went to the Pradhan's house and demanded job cards. He was forced to bring out cards that had been in his keeping since 2006!

Finally, fights in villages continue. In some cases, they seem to be power plays between Sangathan members and those close to the Pradhan or older powerful families. Nerves are also a little frayed and people are reacting to every little thing that seems out of the ordinary. Until the unemployment allowance reaches the accounts of the beneficiaries, this state of affairs will most likely persist.

On another front, planning has started for a sammelan to be held on the 24th and 25th. Farmer-labourers from across Sitapur district and other areas will be invited to share their experiences, learn from SKMS' journey and plan for collective action to ensure a better life. There is talk of about 1500-2000 people attending from Mishrikh and Pisawa and ~500 from other blocks in the district. I think the numbers will be higher. At any rate, Sitapur city will witness a bigger gathering of the rural poor, without any party backing, than it has been accustomed to!

End on a high note!

January 19^th - 20^th

When we returned to Vikas Bhavan on Monday morning, it was to find messages in limestone written at the gate. Some friends sent me off to read the slogans and messages written at the entrance to the Collectorate building. All 9 demands of the Sangathan had been written out in huge bold script. 'Sangtin Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan Zindabad' was written on the vertical portion of the steps, clearly visible to all who walked up them.

My first action, after congratulating those who made this happen, was to find out who had done the writing. I had found the scribe for the next edition of Sangtin Samachar!

Today, it was a little easier to get some articles, though I still had to work with a few of the writers to improve their work. Some were responsive – others, especially the more educated among the lot were not. But the best part of the day's effort, for me atleast, was finding two teenagers, Akhilesh and Pramod, who were willing to be budding cartoonists. I told them the story we wanted to depict – villagers going to ask their Pradhan and Secretary for work, while the latter were busy preparing forged muster rolls. The two worked together and came with a very good depiction. I had realized the previous day that people here had a unique way of drawing figures. They learnt to adapt that to tell the story, which was great!

Towards evening, everyone was getting impatient with the lack of response from the officials and talk started about gheraoing some officials. We then received the message, via Sharmaji, that the CDO had returned to Vikas Bhavan (he was out all day) and wanted to talk with the Sangathan. There was a brief discussion on whether the negotiation team should go to meet the CDO and the issues that were non-negotiable. The team then set off. The rest of us began a program of songs and slogans. The Sangathan has got this process down pat. As Mukesh bhayya put it, while the CDO is talking to the negotiation team, he should be able to hear our voices and know we are there. It was a good session. We had all eaten and there was a cold wind blowing, so everyone came together inside the canopy rather than spreading out. Some old friends finally made their appearance and entertained us with their songs.

Finally, the negotiation team came out. The CDO had agreed with all of their demands and a notice was being sent out to the BDOs! Camps would be set up to issue new job cards. Work would be started in the Sangathan villages soon and go on till March 31^st so that labourers could do as much work as possible this financial year. Where wages hadn't been paid for work done, the payments would be made immediately and responsible officials punished. And so on. These were the commitments the Sangathan was looking for. The struggle was not over – these changes would have to be implemented at the block and village level. But the purpose of coming to Sitapur was fulfilled. Plans began to be made to organize a sammelan in late February to celebrate the victory and galvanize more people in Mishrikh and Pisawa as well as other blocks in the district.

We decided to end the dharna the next day with another small rally – this one towards the place where jeeps and tempos would be available to ferry people back to their homes. This one was less organized than the earlier rally, but no less enthusiastic. The happiness was visible on people's faces and communicated by their voices.

The road ahead for the Sangathan is new and uncharted. This is the first time it has directly brought money into the villages (if one does not count the work obtained through NREGA and payments for the same). And 15 lakhs worth of it! Sadly, many of the less active people and villages are getting a larger payment. This is largely because the more active villages managed to get work. But this is a potential point of conflict. Further, a lot more people will want to join the Sangathan because of the perceived benefits. So the work will expand dramatically. But these are good problems, I think, and with the renewed energy after this victory, the Sangathan should be able to meet these challenges.

Getting our message across

January 18^th

The third day of the protest was on Sunday, when the officials would be away. Therefore, plans were made to get some work done, especially recording the account numbers of all the recipients of unemployment benefits. Messages had been sent to the listed villages to send passbooks so that the numbers could be accurately recorded. Further, meetings were held with each of the Sangathan villages to record their individual problems.

While this was going on, I was busy trying to get 'Sangtin Samachar' going. The previous day, we had written out some news items on chart paper and posted it on some boards facing outward so that passersby could read them. We received the feedback to paste a number of chart papers together and make a consolidated newspaper. I started going around the venue asking people to contribute articles and discovered the challenges with a group of mainly illiterate folk. In many cases, I asked people to get someone to write down their opinions, but that didn't always happen. I also tried to get some people to draw – my idea was to make cartoons. But most people had no concept of cartoons and even that was challenging. I ended up drawing my first cartoon ever! Overall, we managed to get a decent paper together.

Dwiji was busy presiding over the cooking (surprise, surprise!). A number of women kept asking me throughout the day whether we were married or brother and sister, whether we had children, who cooked at home etc. etc. I also got a lot of ribbing from Bitoli and her enthusiastic group for 'allowing' Dwiji to grow a beard!

Starting with a victory!

January 16th

While we were preparing for the dharna in Sitapur, efforts were underway in Lucknow, mainly through Arundhati Dhuru, to get the order for payment of unemployment benefits issued. And these were successful - on the morning of the 16th, Hindustan Hindi reported that the Commisioner at the Ministry for Rural Affairs had signed the order to release almost Rs. 15 lakh in unemployment benefits and it had been sent to the District Administration. My first reaction to this news was that we could call off the dharna. But during further discussions, it dawned on me that the struggles of workers at the village and block level to get work, get new job cards, be paid for work already done etc. did need resolution.

We set off to the dharna site to find the shamiana up and a few villagers already there. Action picked up around 2 pm, with speeches, slogans and songs. Richa talked about the order issued in Lucknow. The Sangathan hadn't received a copy yet. Further, there were 9 more demands that had to be met. Should the dharna be called off? The answer was a resounding no!

At some point, I took a break to have a snack – the villagers had brought food from home, but we hadn't cooked anything. When I came back, it was to find that the P.D. (Program Director) had read out the order on unemployment benefits with the list of recipient villages and the amount to be paid out! Officials at the Collectorate have finally learnt that all such announcements need to be made in public, in front of the Sangathan, rather than privately with one or two representatives...

January 17th

The victory over unemployment benefits is not a small one – this is the first time such a payment has been announced in Uttar Pradesh and perhaps the only place where a committee with equal representation from the aggrieved parties was set up. To celebrate, a victory rally was planned at noon. But first, the negotiation team went to parlay with the CDO. They came back with disappointing news – the CDO had promised to look into the issue and had not offered any concrete proposals.


Anyway, the rally set out with all of us standing in 2 lines and streaming out onto the road. The two lines spread out and effectively blocked traffic. We first went to the nearby Gandhi statue to offer our prayers and commemorate the Father of the Nation. We then headed to the market area, chanting slogans and distributing pamphlets about the issue. In the market, the head of the Merchant's Guild, who has been supporting the Sangathan, showered flowers on all the marchers.

I was at the rear of the procession, helping to keep the line in place and prevent any vehicle from entering between the marchers. We didn't have a mike due to a last-minute snafu, so all slogans were chanted with sheer lung power. Different Sangathan saathis took up the lead in chanting slogans and others enthusiastically joined in. The way in which people struggling for their daily existence have taken ownership of the Sangathan is truly heartening.

Preparations for the heart, mind and stomach

On 11^th and 12^th January, I attended the regional meetings in Qutubnagar and Pisawa. Here, plans for the dharna were again discussed – the wheat flour, rice, potatoes etc. each village would be contributing, dos and don'ts during the dharna etc. A good amount of time was also spent on other issues such as compensation for collapsed houses. A number of people still haven't received the Rs. 1500 that was promised for houses that collapsed during the severe monsoon from June to September. Plans were made to submit these lists on the 13^th at the tehsil in Mishrikh.

Another major point of contention was the manner in which work was being conducted at worksites. As a number of people put it, those who had not filed applications for work were still getting it because they are close to the Pradhan. Surbala tried to explain (and I joined in) that we had no way of making this case. If we complained, work applications could be made up on the spot. We need to pick our battles and this one wasn't worth engaging in. Further, if other people were getting work, what is the harm in that? Didn't they need the extra income as well? This point of dissent highlights the divisions along caste and/or party lines that exist in villages and that prevent mass mobilization at the village level. On the bright side, some older Sangathan saathis seem to have understood this and are promoting the message.

One poignant moment occurred in the Qutubnagar meeting when an active Saathi, Prakash, talked about how a group in his village challenged their Pradhan and wrested back the 'commission' he had taken to get old-age pensions and the like done. This group then got the work done legally, without any extortion. Prakash got a pension for his mother as well. One day, when he was away from home, the Pradhan came to his house and demanded Rs. 500 as commission from her. She gave it to him without a murmur! How hard it is to reverse decades of subservience!!

At any rate, the preparations for the dharna were proceeding at full strength. On the evening of the 15^th, a tractor deposited all the collected provisions at the Sangathan office. A whopping 20 quintals (2000 kg.) of wheat flour and rice had been collected, as well as potatoes, salt, oil and other supplies and about Rs. 3000 in cash. What a thrill to start a dharna knowing that you have food supplies for atleast 20 days at hand!

NREGA at work

10th Jan 2009

Saturday found us accompanying Richa and Sharmaji to a village where a serious dispute had broken out over measurement of work at an NREGA work site. A pond is being dug in a village in Mishrikh and ~150 labourers turned up to work here. As we've seen and heard in many places, the Pradhan's 'chamchas' and cronies were doing less work and getting paid more. This was frustrating the rest of the workers, especially those who are SKMS members. A serious disagreement had broken out and a full-blown fight had been narrowly averted. A few of the Pradhan's 'gang' had used extremely foul language against some women and this had become more of an emotional issue.

At the village, people quickly assembled – work had been shut for the day – and began recounting their versions of the incident. The Pradhan Pati (his wife is the puppet Pradhan), his son and cronies were nowhere to be found, even though they had promised to be there.

A major point of contention was the measurement of work done – the government assessment is that an average worker can dig and remove 70 cubic feet of earth per day and will receive the minimum wage – Rs. 100. If a worker digs less or more than that, he/she will be paid accordingly. Now earlier, the average volume of earth was set at 100 cubic feet. With the downward revision, most workers would be eligible to receive more, but at this worksite, 100 cubic feet was still being used as a reference. Further, the measurement of work done is supposed to be recorded daily in the Measurement Book. Instead, it was recorded only after 6 days. And the calculations showed that most people would be paid Rs. 25-40/day, a number that seems absurdly low.

Sharmaji stepped into the half-dug pond to demonstrate how to measure the volume of the pits each worker or team had dug. This is a simple process – most pits are cuboids, so the volume measure is length x width x depth. But I realized that for semi-literate/illiterate workers with low self-confidence, even this level of math is a challenge. I am sure that they can compute more difficult sums, such as interest on their loans etc. So how to get them to figure out this relatively simple equation? As Dwiji remarked, workshops on muster roll records, measurement of work etc. are in order and a good time and place for them will be the dharna!

Richa and Sharmaji persevered in locating the Pradhan Pati and his son – we finally got them to meet us in Mishrikh in the presence of the Block Pramukh. After some amount of arguing and negotiation, a compromise was arrived at. The main mischief monger would apologize for the foul language he used and would be removed from the worksite. The Junior Engineer for the region would come and independently measure the pits and calculate the wages to be paid out. This process is planned for the 15th – till then, it's wait and see and continue preparations for the dharna...

The road to Sitapur

6th - 7th Jan 2009


We returned to Sitapur on New Years Eve after an absence of 4 months. Most of this period was spent in traveling – in the US and Canada, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, MP, Karnataka, Tamilnadu... Dwiji even spent a few weeks in Kerala while I was busy at CHC. So I was ready for a change to mere local journeys – after all, travel within Mishrikh and Pisawa blocks in Sitapur dt. feels comparable to commutes within Bangalore city, maybe better. Though the distances are greater, one is not stuck in traffic jams, breathing in diesel fumes!


The first few days of our return were mainly occupied in acclimatizing to the cold and setting up supplies in the kitchen and one room of the new SKMS premises – we are staying here until we can find a place of our own. I did accompany Reena, Surbala and others to a couple of villages near Mishrikh. The year-and-a-half long campaign for unemployment allowance that SKMS has been involved in is stuck in what should be its penultimate phase. The DM-appointed committee, set up after the December 2007 dharna, came out with its final report on Oct 10th establishing the eligibility of 800+ families for roughly Rs. 15 lakh worth of dues. But, since then, the district administration has been pursuing the usual beaurocratic delaying tactics. Therefore, SKMS is planning an indefinite dharna to demand action on this matter, viz the release of funds to the families as laid out in the report. The current round of village meetings was to drum up support for this dharna in villages in the two blocks.


A committee of 3-5 people from each village were also invited for a 2-day meeting to coordinate and plan for the dharna. The meeting was held at the Mishrikh dharamsala. It was to run from the noon of 6th January to noon of the next day, with as little time spent sleeping as possible! Usually about 60-80 people have turned up at such meetings – this time there were almost 150 people! This did create a few problems with logistics, such as sleeping arrangements, and seating when we had to move inside from the terrace. Also, the even mix of newbies and older hands made it harder to organize the meeting and the agenda. But overall, it was an entertaining mix of songs and slogans (with a lot of people being trained for the same), coordination for the dharna, discussions of other issues and problems and even some scoldings and exhortations. During the past dharna in December 2007, a lot of help and support was requested and given by people in Sitapur. This time, there were more efforts to raise donations in cash and kind (wheat flour, potatoes) from the villages itself. Enough foodstock was pledged to provide food for the protestors for 15 days – hopefully, that will suffice!


While I have spent a reasonable amount of time with the members of SKMS, this workshop provided a lot of new perspectives. Some were quite simple, and given my previous experiences here, logical. After initial problems with people dirtying the toilets, it was quite easy to find an empty and clean one, though there were just 3 available. Villagers here are used to answering nature's call in the open, and they seem to answer it less frequently than us city-bred folks!


A tougher issue, and one that will very likely be a problem during the dharna, is getting folks to cooperate while distributing food, blankets etc. The sad truth is that the members of SKMS are deprived in many ways. When food is being distributed, they think about the children or other family members back home and try to squirrel away some for later. This sometimes results in other people not getting a serving at all, as during the workshop with samosas. At night, the distribution of quilts was similarly problematic. Maybe people just have to develop confidence in the sangathan and in each other. Or perhaps that will always be a challenge.

Anyway, I was sadly reminded of how much food is wasted in marriages, parties and all the other events hosted by the better-off among us. In contrast, during the dharna, due to logistical and economic issues, a simple meal of rotis and 'alu ki sabzi' will be prepared in the evening and just chai in the morning. Some people mentioned how tough it would be to not have anything to eat in the morning and it was suggested that they keep aside some rotis from the evening before. Thankfully, it is winter, with less chances of food spoiling.


The dharna has been finalized for January 16th. My primary responsibility at the time will be with the 'khabar' or news team. We are planning to come out with a daily 'akhbaar' – here's hoping we'll be able to come together as an effective news team!