8 PBKMS Members Arrested For Standing Up To Corruption

Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity strongly condemns the unreasonable and unwarranted arrest of 8 Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) workers from Lakhanpur Gram Panchayat (GP), Hura Block , Purulia district on 23 April 2012. This arrest is a means by which the administration and Panchayat want to suppress any protest against their own corruption and illegality in implementation of MGNREGS.

The latest action by PBKMS members was to stop the use of machines and contractors in moving earth in Lakhanpur GP in an NREGS scheme. The workers had in February and March twice sent back earthmover machines brought in by a contractor. When a third attempt was made, 463 workers voluntarily shifted the earth, thus causing loss to the contractor and all those who would have got a commission out of this gross misuse of MGNREGA funds. Vested political leadership had threatened to file cases against PBKMS leaders at that time itself.

The facts of the present case are as follows: 99 workers applied for MGNREGS work in Lakhanpur GP of Hura block. They were given the work of making a road in Khoiripira upto the Nadighat. On 23 April 2012, the workers found that they were being asked to spread the earth being brought by two tractors on the new road. They complained to the supervisor that if this meant that their work would be measured according to the quantity of earth that they spread, this would mean too little for each worker and they would therefore not earn minimum wages for the day’s work. The supervisor was not able to tell them the rate at which they would be paid, so they decided to ask the Panchayat for an explanation.

When all 99 of them reached the Panchayat, they found the Pradhan absent. No one else was willing to give them an answer, so the workers began a peaceful dharna (sit-down strike) in front of the GP office with their baskets, spades and pickaxes. The dharna began at 11 a.m. and continued till 6 p.m., with no one willing to address the workers’ problems. At around this time, the PBKMS district secretary, Mohan Mahato, himself an NREGS worker from that Gram Panchayat, who had heard about the problem came to the GP office to enquire about what had happened. Soon after, a large number of policemen came and arrested Mohan and 7 other workers.

After this, the PBKMS State Treasurer, Uttam Gayen and many others from the State Committee tried calling up the Officer in Charge (OC), Hura Police Station, and the Block Development Officer (BDO) to find out why the 8 workers had been arrested. Our phone calls were ignored. Uttam Gayen went to the Police Station to find out what the problem was, but the OC refused to meet him.

It was from the Purulia district court that we found out what the case was about. The 8 workers have been arrested on charges of obstructing a Government servant.  The case has been filed by the Upapradhan in the name of Biplab Mondal and Chaitanya Mahato, leaders of the PBKMS who were not even present at the spot, and Mohan Mahato, who arrived at the tail end of the dharna, just before the police action started.  The case has the convenient tag of “and others” besides these three, making it easy for the police to arrest whosoever they please whenever they please.

At present the workers have been remanded to jail custody for 15 days up to 8 May 2012, causing huge problems for them and their families, as all of them are daily wage earners. Case details are as follows: Hura PS Case No: 30/12, Dated: 23-04-2012, U/S- 147/148/149/342/186/353/332/506/34 IPC. GR No: 487/12, Dated: 24-04-2012.

The PBKMS would like to raise the following objections about this whole procedure:

·          
Wage disputes over the amount of earthwork done are the most commonplace occurrence in MGNREGS works. If an arrest is made every time a worker raises a doubt about measurement and his/her wages, how many arrests will the administration be making every day?

·       As per the Grievance Redressal Rules under the Act, the first place where grievances are to be raised is the Gram Panchayat. The BDO has also always told our workers to go to the Panchayat with their problems. If arrests are made when workers go to the Panchayat with a grievance, where are workers supposed to go for grievance redressal?

·    

     As per Grievance Redressal Rules, each Panchayat is supposed to have a complaints register, is to receive written complaints and the Pradhan is to dispose of the same within 10 days. The Lakhanpur Gram Panchayat Pradhan and his staff do not even know about this procedure, forget following it. They are therefore lawbreakers. Why should not a case under section 25 of the MGNREG Act be filed against them?

·      

           Two of the accused, Biplab Mondal and Chaitanya Mahato, were not even on the spot when the supposed law and order problem took place. A third, Mohan Mahato, arrived almost at the end, when the so-called “incident” was almost over. How can they be held responsible for the alleged law and order problem? Why has the police filed an open ended case of “and others”, if not to harass any worker who raises the issue of rights under NREGS?

·        

          The Lakhanpur Gram Panchayat has been with the Trinamul Congress since 2009. It is therefore obviously the TMC local leadership that is responsible for this problem. What kind of “change” or “paribartan” on behalf of the TMC leadership does this behaviour entail?

PBKMS suspects that this patently false case has been filed as a means to stop NREGS workers and PBKMS workers from stopping corruption in the NREGS works. We demand immediate withdrawal of the false case and immediate release of the workers. It also demands that proper grievance redressal procedures be put in place for NREGS complaints as per the Grievance Redressal Rules.

Despite Sangrampur, Police Protects Illicit Liquor

Despite the spurious, illicit hooch tragedy in Sangrampur of South 24 Parganas in which 148 persons lost their lives, illicit liquor continues to flourish in the same district. Its latest victim is Maya Patra, a young 19-year-old housewife of   Village Nonapota Narayanpur 4 No Gheri, PS Kakdwip. Last night when she was on her way to the fields to relieve herself, she was abducted by six henchmen of the liquor dealers. She was taken to a nearby paan baroj where the men attempted to forcibly gang-rape her. 

Maya received this punishment because her in-laws have been actively opposing illicit liquor in their village. Nonapota has the biggest illicit hooch manufacturing units in the Kakdwip subdivision. The hooch manufacturers here flourish because they have lucrative markets in the neighbouring areas of Pathar Pratima and Kakdwip, as well as tourist areas like Fraser Ganj and Bakkhali . Chief amongst the manufacturers are Sunil Mondal and Kangal Pramanick, both residents of the same village.  

Aloka Patra, Maya’s mother in law has been actively opposing the liquor dens in her village, as they are just opposite her house and drunken men often tease their women folk. About a year ago, Aloka got fed up of the constant harassment. She went on the warpath and led a group of half a dozen women in breaking the illicit liquor dens and burning the liquor. A boycott was organised against her by the liquor manufacturers, and she was being pressured to pay Rs 80,000 as “compensation” for the loss she had caused. The police refused to help her, though she tried to file a case against the liquor manufacturers. Instead, the police would go to the village every time she complained to take money from the liquor manufacturers.  

Aloka finally came to the Shramajivi Mahila Samity(SMS) for help. The SMS organised a meeting on the issue in the village, only to find that the liquor lords and their henchmen had surrounded them and were forcing them to make a settlement fining Aloka. The activists had to finally be rescued by a police team.

After the Sangrampur incident , SMS once again pressured the police to break the liquor manufacturing units. This only led to the police taking some cosmetic action and being paid some more money. About two weeks ago, Aloka Patra and her husband were again attacked by the henchmen of the liquor lords. Aloka’s husband was hospitalised with a head injury, but there was no action from the police.

On 28 March 2012, there was again an altercation between Aloka’s daughter-in-law Maya and six henchmen of the liquor lords. To teach Aloka, Maya and their family a lesson, they abducted her and gagged her, before attempting to rape her. She however managed to raise a hue and cry, hearing which her husband and mother-in-law and other neighbours rushed to her rescue. Biswanath, Aloka’s husband, received a head injury in the process and has had to be hospitalised.

Since yesterday SMS activists and Maya’s family have been desperately trying to file an FIR and get the six criminals arrested. So far, they have only received assurances of action from the Officer in Charge, the Sub divisional Police Officer and the Additional SP (Rural) of the district. The Mahila Samity is demanding immediate arrest of the six criminals and the liquor lords, and the breaking of the liquor manufacturing units. If this action is not forthcoming, the Kakdwip police station will be gherao-ed on 31 March 2012.

Asta Bala Maity

Shramajivi Mahila Samity, G3 Balaka Apartments, 348 Basunagar, Madhyamgram

Why The Food Bill Is A Damp Squib

·                The National Food Security Bill has nothing to say on the basics that would provide food security - fair employment, proper wages, control of productive resources etc. So, it amounts to the provision of a temporary dole in socio-economic conditions that remain unchanged.

·                Despite claiming to be a Food Security Bill, it is strangely silent on the very important issues of food production, procurement and storage.

·                Entitlements under the Bill are limited and targeted. It provides only cereals or ready-to-eat food and cooked meals in limited quantities to a limited number of people, only under certain conditions and at particular times. It therefore fails to guarantee access to all people at all times.

·                     Nutritional security requires a comprehensive basket of food, with adequate quantities of pulses, oil, fruits, vegetables, milk and other food items. The NFSB provides for cereals alone for the population to be covered under the PDS. 

·                     Despite clear indications of declining food consumption and increasing hunger and malnutrition and indebtedness among the working people of the country for consumption needs, the Government has only given a paltry amount of 7 kg per head per month for the priority group and only 3 kg per head per month for the general group. These quantities meet neither the nutritional requirements for a healthy life nor even the present consumption levels.

·                     The Bill has been left open-ended and gives no definite date for notification. It allows for different dates for the notification of various sections of the law.

·                     The present law delegates the selection of the entitlement holder under the category of priority and general households to the Central Government instead of Parliament itself, thus giving to the Central Government a function that is constitutionally the prerogative of Parliament.

·                      
The Bill has created three categories – the excluded, priority households and general households in place of a universal system that existed before the 1990’s.

·                      
The Bill seems to be aimed at reducing the obligations of governments. Linking benefits to reforms prescribed by Central Government punishes those living in states that have poor governance.

·                     The Bill has left the door open to a wholesale replacement of the PDS with cash transfers, impacting household food security. This will also affect farmers as the Government will not procure grain or store it. This is a threat to the nation’s food security. 

·                     While the Supreme Court orders have made all services under the ICDS universal, the Bill talks of only universal supplementary nutrition.

·                     Services to migrants, homeless and destitute and the disabled have been left undefined.

·                     The proposed grievance redress mechanism under the NFSB begins at the district level, which is too far away for people to effectively access.

·                     Though the Bill has provisions dealing with transparency and accountability, they are not sufficient. Too much of discretion has been left to the Government to decide the modalities of inspection.

The NFSB 2011 gives sweeping powers to the Central Government. These sections are clearly in violation of the federal system of governance.

Our detailed critique is available at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/85182662/Food-Bill-Critique

State-Level Consultation Meeting On National Food Security Bill

State Consultation on National Food Security Bill 2011

March 16, 2012, 12 noon to 5 p.m.

Venue: Nabaparjay’s union office at Shed No. 11, Khadya Bhavan, 11A Mirza Ghalib Street (near New Market), Kolkata

To discuss the critique of the National Food Security Bill 2011 tabled in the Parliament and

Plan strategy to force the Government to bring in a law that:

·         Ensures food security to all and the elimination of malnutrition and hunger in children and adults in the country

·         Addresses production, procurement and storage issues, establishing the dignity of farmers

·         Provides a universal PDS, removing targeting to BPL alone 

·         A Grievance Redress scheme that guarantees effective and immediate redress locally.

In December 2011, the Government of India placed the draft National Food Security Bill 2011 in Parliament. To say the least, the Bill is a great disappointment to all those who are striving for food security and the elimination of hunger in the country.  The Bill is now before the Parliamentary Standing Committee for discussion and finalisation before being placed in Parliament for the final debate and voting.

The National Right To Food Campaign, along with a number of West Bengal-based unions, groups and networks, is organising a State-level consultation on “National Food Security Bill 2011”.

During the consultation on March 16, we expect different groups to present their views on the Bill and to plan for a joint programme to influence the Standing Committee as well as to create public opinion. The agenda of the meeting would be to understand the content of the National Food Security Bill 2011 and its impact on food security. We would also look at West Bengal’s experience with legal entitlements, vigilance and redress in the rationing system and other schemes. We hope to come up with a campaign plan on the NFSB 2011 for West Bengal.

Some of the organisations who have agreed to participate in this programme are (in alphabetical order): Asanghatit Khetra Shramik Sangrami Manch, Binodini Shramik Union, Durbar Disha Griha Shramik Samanvay Committee,  Griha Adhikar Manch, Hawkers Sangram Committee, Hosiery Workers Unity Centre, Human Rights Law Network, Hunger Free West Bengal Campaign, Institute for Motivating Self Employment, Jana Swasthya Adhikar Raksha Samity, Liquor Shop Employees Union, MASUM, National Alliance of People’s Movements, New Trade Union Initiative,  Paschim Banga Jeevan Jeevika Surakhsha Manch, Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity, Sara Bangla Truck Parichalak Sanghathan Samnavay Samity, Shramajivi Mahila Samity, Shramajivi Samanvay Committee, Sundarban Banadhikar Sangram Committee, Udayani Social Action Centre, Uthnau and West Bengal Government Employees Union (Nabaparjay). 

Kavita Srivastava, the National Convenor of the Right to Food Campaign, will also be present. A contribution of Rs10 from each participant is requested to cover the costs of the meeting.

Saumendra Narayan Basu, Debashis Pal, Mijanur Rehaman, Jothi Sj., Anuradha Talwar