Anti-liquor procession by the members of Shramajivee Mahila Samity (মদ বিরোধি মিছিল - কাটাখাল,উত্তর ২৪ পরগনা)

Around 300 members of the Shramajivee Mahila Samity gathered in the Katakhal centre of the samity, in North 24 Parganas discussing how alcoholism and the sale of illegal alcohol has had an impact on their lives, their children and families. Crime against women and children was already at an all-time high due to the COVID lockdown, which was further fuelled by the consumption of alcohol by the men of the family. It was pointed out how re-opening of liquor shops even during the lockdown, put various families at risk of domestic violence and other forms of harassment and assault. Talking about the co-occurrence of alcohol consumption and abuse, the women felt the need to do something about the issue. This meeting led to a decision of taking out a march from the centre to the villages and other areas around, raising demands like - shutting down of local liquor outlets and imposing restrictions on the sale of illegal liquor. 

Women carrying our trade union flags during the march

The women of the samity, thus took to the streets on 4th November 2020 to assert their right to a safe home, neighbourhood and environment. Demands were raised for the administration to take stringent steps to curb the sale of illicit liquor. Furthermore, no licenses should be provided to liquor outlets. The procession (মিছিল) was an attempt to pressure the local government, which earns a vast sum from the sale of alcohol, to impose restrictions on the same.

A woman carrying her daughter throughout the march, demanding safety for herself and her child, at home and outside

Hunger Deaths in the district of Purulia

Case Study of two hunger deaths from the same family in Puncha, Purulia

Names of the deceased: Smt Jyotsna Gorai (61 years) and Shri Jhantu Gorai (36 years)

Smt. Jyotsna Gorai and Shri Jhantu Gorai, residing in Puncha Gram Panchayat of Puncha block in Purulia have died on 18^th October, 2020 and 28^th October, 2020 respectively out of their inability to access food for a considerable period of time. A widow, Smt. Jyotsna Gorai was staying with the family of his younger son (Shri Jhantu Gorai) in a dilapidated dwelling unit which in turn was built by her maternal family. The family consisted of the deceased individuals, wife of Shri Jhantu Gorai and their two girl children aged seven and four years respectively. Being landless agricultural labourers, the family of five was at a considerable disadvantage in having access to basic necessities. The son is a specially-abled individual which restricted his ability to contribute to the household income. A PHH (Priority Household) ration card and a job card of NREGA (public works programme implemented according to the MGNREGA, 2005) were found to be possessed by the family. Though the absence of a bank account, virtually made them unable to access the latter programme. Smt Tuktuki Gorai, the daughter-in-law was the only earning member and even she was not able to work for long hours due to general weakness. The lady used to work as a cook in the Mid Day Meal programme and due to closure of educational institutions in the state on account of COVID-19 restrictions, she has not been able to earn her wages. The lady was found to be frail and emaciated. She has not been able to earn a daily wage of more than ₹50 on days where she has been able to work in the nearby agricultural fields.

Smt. Jyotsna Gorai fell seriously ill around five months ago and the family was not able to get her treated at any medical facility. The nationwide lockdown and the sudden loss of opportunities to participate in any unskilled work had a negative impact on the household. Food grains received through the PDS (Public Distribution System) were inadequate and with the fall in household income, the landless family also failed to gain access to other necessary food items. The morning breakfast consisted of a ‘chapati’ and black tea. Boiled rice and potatoes were the usual food items available for lunch and the family reportedly did not have enough food to prepare a dinner on most of the days. The household income was virtually nil for a period of four long months. Closing down of the ‘anganwadi’ centres and the intermittent supply of dry rations to eligible beneficiaries also imposed further constraints on the household to meet their daily food requirements. The panchayat pradhan, block sabhapati and the Block Development Officer of Puncha were approached by the family for possible help in accessing adequate food. The family even went to the local police station for help. Only a civic police volunteer visited the family once and food ration(s) or food kits were neither provided by the civil nor by the police administration.

Smt. Jyotsna Gorai’s health condition deteriorated with acute pain in the abdominal region along with cramps. She was taken to the Puncha Block Primary Health Centre and further referred to the Bankura Medical College and Hospital after a preliminary diagnosis. Unfortunately, she was refused treatment at the Bankura district hospital citing Covid-19 protocols. The maternal family of the woman tried to take her to a medical facility in Ranchi (Jharkhand) on being refused treatment and any assistance in facilitating her admission to any other government run facility. She breathed her last in Ranchi on 18^th October, 2020. In the meanwhile, Shri Jhantu Gorai’s condition started to deteriorate and he complained about severe stomach ache on 26^th October, 2020 along with swelling in his abdomen. He was taken to the Puncha Block Primary Health Centre on the next day and breathed his last on 28^th October, 2020. 

Younger son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren of Smt. Jyotsna Gorai in front of the family’s shelter               

Vulnerability Profiling: Purulia is home to a predominantly rural population, with a significant scheduled tribe and scheduled caste population. Around 45% of the population are not literate with more than half of the population dependent on manual casual labour[1]. The extreme vulnerability of a household residing in one of the rural parts of the district with no land holdings or any other durable assets is evident from such a profile. Purulia also happens to be one of the districts of the ‘Jangalmahal’ area (a region with considerable forest cover which was affected by left wing extremism) where the implementation of vital rights based legislations has not been in their true spirits to say the least.

Lack of access to a bank account and any other social security schemes (particularly the old age pension and disability pension schemes) point towards the exclusion of the household and the violation of their constitutional right to an exploitation – free, dignified life. Lack of access to quality healthcare and the denial of treatment in a district medical hospital highlight the vulnerability of the family, in addition to being a violation of article 21 of the Indian constitution.

The family does not fulfil even one criterion for automatic exclusion of households according to the laid down guidelines of the SECC, 2011. Further, the nature of their dwelling unit and other factors warrant their identification as a deprived household, fulfilling three conditions of deprivation out of seven. The conditions of deprivation fulfilled by the household have been identified to be as follows:

1. Households without a ‘pucca’ roof

2. Households without a literate adult above the age of 25

3. Landless households deriving a major part of their income from manual labour

With the death of Shri Jhantu Gorai, the household has further slipped in the deprivation index and the criterion of a household being a female headed one, with no adult male member between 16 and 59 years of age gets added onto the existing list of ‘conditions of deprivation’.

The interiors of the Gorai household

Our immediate demands from the administration:

The following measures should be taken immediately by the block and district administrations to support the household in confronting challenges owing its socio-economic condition:

·         Releasing GR (General Ration) for the household

·         A comprehensive medical checkup of Smt Tuktuki Gorai and her children with access to nutritional supplements

·         Upgrading the existing PHH (Priority Household) ration card to that of a AAY (Antyodaya Anna Yojana) ration card

·         Facilitating the opening of a ‘Jan Dhan’ bank account in the name of Smt Tuktuki Ghorai, the widow of Shri Jhantu Gorai

·         Extending benefits of the West Bengal Widow Pension Scheme, 2010 to Smt Tuktuki Ghorai

·         Enrolment of the household under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana- Gramin to address the need of a ‘pucca’ dwelling unit

·         Facilitating the access to unskilled work through MGNREGA, 2005 for Smt Tuktuki Gorai and allotment of work sites wherein crèches will be made available. This will enable her girl children to have access to a safe environment during the working hours of their mother.

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[1] SECC, 2011

Signature Campaign of Shramajivee Mahila Samity

The members of Shramajivee Mahila Samity have started a signature campaign to bring to the administration’s notice the rampant selling of illegal liquor in various parts of the state; the brunt of which is often borne by the women and children. Incidents of domestic violence, sexual abuse, harassment in public spaces, rising alcoholism amongst the youth, stress on household budget due to non-discretionary spending on alcohol and degradation of familial ties are some of the ill effects that women and the youth have to regularly face. 

An anchal level meeting in progress

PBKMS General Secretary addressing a street corner meeting of SMS

The following demands are being made, requesting the administration’s immediate intervention: 

1. Action must be taken to close down all unlicensed illegal liquor outlets.

2. No further licenses should be provided to liquor outlets.

3. All illegal liquor outlets selling alcohol within a radius of 100 metres of educational institutions, government offices, places of worship and other public places must be shut.

4. Dependence of the state government on liquor revenues should be reduced and the Central Govt should compensate for the same.

5. Non-partisan action by police, particularly regarding cases of violence against women.

The letter in Bengali to be submitted to the block as well as district administrations

Disbursement of festival bonus by tea garden collectives

Tea garden workers are successfully and very efficiently running tea gardens themselves after management abandoned them. Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity took steps in Madhu, Birpara and Raipur tea gardens by setting up and supporting collective groups to run the tea gardens after the management abandoned these tea gardens. The tea garden workers were devastated after the management abandoned these gardens as the tea garden workers were completely dependent on tea gardens for their survival. These tea gardens are now running successfully by the collectives and even saving a surplus amount.

The collective members preparing to distribute the bonus  

1. The Birpara tea garden was abandoned by the management for many years. In August 2019 a collective was formed and 1300 workers started working on 405 acres. These workers would usually earn Rs 180 per day for plucking tea leaves and the collective sells these leaves to brokers according to whoever gives the highest price. The collective started saving right from September 2019 and now has successfully saved Rs 1 crore  and 65 thousands by selling tea leaves. The collective has decided to distribute surplus savings among all the members Each tea garden worker of Birpara has received Rs 11280 as bonus from the surplus savings on October 7,2020.

The workers collecting their bonus(s) from the collective office

2. Madhu Tea Estate  was abandoned by management in 2014. In January 2019, a collective was formed by some of the women to run the tea garden. This garden has 75 women members who started working on 25 acres and they would earn Rs 10 per kg for tea plucking. This ensured that these women could earn Rs 200-250 per day and even Rs 400 on some days.The collective would then sell these leaves in the wholesale market.  The collective ran the garden so efficiently that they successfully started saving a surplus amount. The collective saved Rs 1,88,955 till September 2019 and distributed these savings as bonus among tea garden workers. Continuing their successful campaign of the previous year the Madhu Bagan Collective saved Rs 2.5 lakhs till September 2020. The collective has decided to distribute a surplus amount of Rs 2 lakhs equally among all the members of the Madhu tea garden as a bonus and to invest the rest amount to run the garden.

 

3. Raipur tea garden also was abandoned by the management in September 2018. On 12 September 2018 tea workers formed a collective to run the tea garden. This garden has 617 members who started working and they would earn Rs 150 per day for plucking tea leaves which the Operating Management Committee(OMC) sell to wholesalers.  The OMC started saving and they have successfully saved Rs. 32 lakhs and13 thousands. The collective has decided to run the tea garden through their savings.

 

PBKMS is now exploring the possibility of making and selling hand made tea in Madhu and Birpara, so as to ensure value added and higher incomes for the workers.