POLICY UTTERANCES AND REALITY CHECKS REGARDINGFARM PONDS and CHECK DAMS

If you notice,  the Government of Odisha has been presenting in the Public Domain various Policies on Development. In Odisha, we have such a poor Civil Society Network that there is no way to monitor how these policy decisions are translated into action and whether they have been beneficial or not. Of course, there is periodic analysis of the Budgets and Expenditures done very professionally by Pravash Mishra and Team in CYSD producing very authentic reports. Hope this exercise has some impact somewhere. Our common people do not have much understanding of the Budgets and Expenditures and hence there is very little response. In order that public mind is agitated over policy implications, there should be search for alternative ways of communication. Some people are happily  indulging in Social Audits being hired by the Govt. and  very ably doctoring this Post Mortem exercise. Very few are calling Spade a Spade.

I am always cross-checking about the Policy declarations on construction of  1lakh Farm Ponds and Thousands of Check dams. Has the Government come with an open and verifiable statement how many farm ponds have been constructed under NREGS out of the target of 1lakh and what is the reality check is not known to any one. Barring a few , I saw pits dug in the name  of Farm Ponds causing sheer waste of public money under NREGS. Wherever I am going ,  I am also examining the check-dams constructed and their feasibility.  Farms Ponds have very little Budget while Check dams have huge. In order to achieve targets, I am afraid, check-dams are becoming real jokes. So in both cases, there is fear that there are colossal waste of pubic money and defeat of the objectives of the such measures.

Our friends involve in RTI campaigns, must ask for the detailed report on Farm Ponds and Check Dams at the Block, District and the State Level and verify as many locations as possible. This will have two objectives - a) Make Public Aware of the Public Policies and b) Improve the methods of implementation of the Policies in specific contexts.

Can we expect more postings on this reality check? Can we influence the policies?

What are the reasons behind the spread of Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-1?

What are the reasons behind the spread of Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-1?

Recently, I got an opportunity to participate in Doordarshan Panel Discussion on the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas)/PESA. I had emphatically expressed two points as follows:

• The PESA was adopted in Odisha in 1997 and was diluted in many ways. If one compares Odisha’s PESA with the original PESA, one can see the glaring difference. Besides, there are many lapses across all the Schedule V Areas of the state. These lapses have definitely contributed to the s rise and spread of Left Wing Extremism.
• The Constitutional role of the Governor of the State for the Schedule V areas which says that the Governor make a report to the President of India regarding the administration of the Schedule Area. However, the Governors have failed to do this as a result there has not been the critical appraisal of the system of Governance. This has led to the Governance Deficit.

Now, being disturbed by the expanding  scale of LWE, there are many discussions at many levels in which the Government, the Academics, the Political Parties and the Civil Society Activists are engaged. I had the opportunity of participating in a few.

Working for more than 30 years in the Tribal Areas, I have experienced the development challenges, the hopes and aspirations of various tribal communities.  I have also visualised the world of possibilities. What is missing is the tribal self-rule as assured by the Constitution and the PESA. What is lacking is the interface between the tribal communities and the Constitutional Authorities. When the access to these Authorities is denied and when the tribals and poor do not get a chance to ventilate their grievances and when there is an assault on their lives and livelihood, what option is there for them?

On the other hand, the shrinking democratic space in the tribal areas with so much violence and counter-violence and the double speak of the state have contributed much to the expanding discontent among the tribals. For example, the tribals have certain cohesive ethnicity and all the government programmes are dicing these communities. Take the example of the formation of the SHGs and inroad of micro-finances. They divide the tribal communities. Take another example of the scale of Land Acquisition for Industrialisation and other mega projects and in comparison to that the land to the landless tribals is insignificant. Take another example on development planning process. Instead of involving the tribal communities, everything is top-down. These are the reasons why the tribals are losing their trust on the State and other well-wishers!