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Jean Dreze and Preeti Sampat

4 June 2005

A countrywide 'Rozgar Adhikar Yatra' (employment guarantee campaign) organized by a people's action group took off in New Delhi on 13 May 2005. The aim of this Yatra is to consolidate the campaign for a full-fledged, universal and irreversible Employment Guarantee Act (EGA).

The Yatra has scheduled halts at 10 states—Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh—before returning to Delhi at the end of June. State conventions, public meetings, cultural activities, training workshops, public demonstrations, etc. are being conducted en route. As they make their various halts, the Yatris get the opportunity to glimpse different regions and its specific problems. This firsthand knowledge gained by the Yatris and their chance to create and spread awareness are the Yatra’s biggest takeaways.

In Gujarat, the highlight of the Yatra was a massive rally in Sagbara (Narmada district) convened on 21 May. Some 5000 people marched down the streets, shouting the Yatra’s main slogan: Har Haath Ko Kaam Do, Kaam Ka Pura Daam (Give work to every pair of hands, give the proper wages for every bit of work). The following meeting was dominated by one theme: the need to link the right to work with land reform and democratic control of natural resources, especially jal, jungle, jameen (water, forests, land).

In Maharashtra's Nandurbar district, the Yatris learned more about Maharashtra’s Employment Guarantee Scheme, which derives from an EGA passed in the late seventies. The revelations were eye opening. Though the scheme is in place, employment generation under the EGS has declined significantly since the nineties. Nearly Rs. 10,000 crores are lying unused in the state’s employment guarantee fund, earmarked for EGS. At a district convention held at the same venue on 21 May, many speakers emphasised the need for sustained struggle to ensure implementation of the forthcoming National EGA, even after the Act is passed.

Madhya Pradesh's Badwani district gave the Yatris a startling firsthand view of the rampant deforestation in India's semi-arid districts. There is no work and most people survive from labour migration. In the absence of economic security, local labourers (mainly Dalits and Adivasis) are exposed to exploitation from the traders, employers and government officials. In the Pati Block, the struggle is on for the proper implementation of the National Food For Work Programme (NFFWP). The programme appears to have been initiated in a half-hearted manner, without the safeguards required for effective implementation. There is also flagrant violation of the programme guidelines. For instance, the muster rolls were nowhere to be found, the "monitoring committees" were inactive, and children were routinely employed on NFFWP work sites.

Indore witnessed a detailed discussion and dialogue on employment guarantee and the right to work between the Yatris and some of Indore’s distinguished citizens on 24 May. Earlier, labourers spoke about the hardships of seasonal migration—exploitation, health hazards, disruption of children’s education and survival problems in the city. Assured employment, they stressed, was the only possible way out. Udaipur (district Khargone), one of the 14 villages to be submerged by the Upper Veda dam, opened up the horrors of displacement due to development projects such as large dams.

Families in New Harsud told their tale of misery. This is an entire town that was rehabilitated a year ago. The new spot was without basic facilities such as water and sanitation. Today, though some of them have built houses with the compensation money, they have no work. The Yatris could sense an overwhelming sense of betrayal in the audience, as promises made at the time of displacement remained unfulfilled.

In this way, the Yatra continues on its journey, seeing new places and witnessing different problems that need to be tackled. All along, the Yatris give out their clarion call for collective struggle for the right to work. They also get to spread awareness of the NFFWP Guidelines and consolidate grassroots efforts to monitor the programme. The core demand for a full-fledged, universal and irreversible EGA has been explored from all dimensions and placed in various contexts: the fundamental right to life, livelihood security, the struggle against neo-liberal economic policies, the pledges of the UPA government, and so on.

The Yatra seeks to affirm the right to work as an aspect of the fundamental right to live with dignity. The participants (Yatris)—from very diverse regions, age groups, communities, and organisations—are united in their commitment to the right to work. (More updates from the Yatra to come.)

Jean Dreze and Preeti Sampat
4 Jun 2005

Jean Dreze and Preeti Sampat are with the Yatra team. Further information on the Yatra, including the full itinerary, is available at the special section on "Rozgar Adhikar Yatra" at www.righttofoodindia.org. Contact the Yatra at rozgar@gmail.com or +91-09868888127.

Citizen Direct is India Together's channel for publishing reports from citizens who have detailed information about specific civil society concerns and matters, by virtue of their participation, association, or independent observation. These reports are therefore as witnessed and understood by the authors themselves; India Together accepts no liability or responsibility for them.   More

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