India is breaking the vicious cycle of poverty, malnutrition and population explosion. Muslim women keen for family planning.

Pratim Ranjan Bose 

It was a motley village crowd of 10 odd young mothers from poor agrarian background.

They came on a daily visit to the Integrated Child Development Services centre (ICDS is an India Government sponsored scheme that aims to offer nutritious food to expecting mothers and children, from poor families, and double as a preparatory school) and, were in a hurry to go back home for preparing food for their families. And, excepting one, rest were from Muslim families.

Considering the religious taboos against use of contraceptives among Muslims, I was a little hesitant to raise issues as ‘sensitive’ as 'family planning'. 

Baish-hata: picturesque but, lacks civic amenities

In the end, however, I cut a fool of myself as the women picked up the tab and started talking openly about how they forced their men to go for a smaller family than in the past.

“I have my second child last year and that’s the end,” declared a 20 something Innehar Gazi of Baish-hata in South 24-Parganas district in West Bengal. Others joined him in chorus to underline that the norm of the days is to have a maximum of three children.

Brewing Change

It is often argued that democracy is India’s biggest stumbling block in breaking the vicious cycle of poverty, malnutrition and high population growth; as successfully as in the single-party ruled China that justifies use of force for uplift of the poor.  

India aims to reach the same goal through the circuitous route of consensus building. And, there is little denying that the electoral democracy often makes the job more difficult than perceived.  

Yet, the social contours of India are perhaps changing, for the better, as I witnessed last week, while taking part in social auditing of a Welthungerhilfe  sponsored project in Joynagar-II block in South 24-Parganas district of West Bengal.

WHH representatives at work. Pix: author

The project aims to help people take advantage of the government sponsored welfare initiatives, in ensuring mother and child healthcare, through awareness building.

The choice of location was crucial.

With over 8 million people - majority of which are poor Muslims and lower caste Hindus - jostling for space in a 100 kms stretch that is low on agriculture activity, between one of country’s biggest cities in Kolkata and the mangrove forests of the Sunderbans; South 24-Parganas district in West Bengal is a true representative of India’s highly uneven development trajectory.

Ranked as one of the most backward districts in the country, South 24-Parganas records lower sex-ratio (937) than the national (940) and State average (947) and witnesses extremely high incidences of crime against women. And, Joynagar-II with a human development Index of 0.55 is ranked as one of the worst place to live in the entire country.

The vicious cycle

For six decades of Independent India, the region has seen pitched turf war among rival political camps (many of which idolise Marxist philosophies). They were keen to win elections, often at the cost of heavy bloodsheds, without taking much care in creating even basic physical and social infrastructure.

Take the case of two villages I visited: Baish-hata and Purba Raghunathpur. Both are listed as backward villages with Muslim population ranging between 50 to 98 per cent.

ICDS centre at Baish-hata. Dilapidated and dangerous. Pix: author

Though located hardly 10 odd kms away from the nearest town of Joynagar-Majilpur (that falls under the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority), both the villages are inaccessible by car due to absence of roads. The condition deteriorates during the prolonged rainy season in the Delta.

The primary schools are located at least 1.5 kms from the villages, as against the prescribed limit of 1 km. Health infrastructure is crumbling as the population pressure far exceeds the nationally prescribed norm of one Health Centre for every 5,000 population.

Baish-hata runs its ICDS centre from a dilapidated British-era structure that may come down any day. And, Purba Raghunathpur, didn’t have a decent place to conduct the business till a local NGO, Nimpith Ramkrishna Asram - that is implementing the WHH project - decided to create one, two years ago.

Muslim women worst sufferer

But that is just about physical infrastructure. The situation had been far worse on social front, especially with the Muslim women, due to religious taboos fanned by the community leaders and the lack of intent among vote hungry politicians to build opinion against the same.

The result was atrocious.

Najma Sepai of Purba Raghunathpur was married off when she was merely 12.

Today the malnourished woman, hardly in her late 20’s or early 30’s, has already given birth of six. All the children were delivered at home as the religious taboos deters Muslim women to be treated in hospitals manned by male doctors. Apart from being a baby factory, she doubles as home maker and a seasonal farm labour, often during pregnancy.

Sepai is not an exception. Run a check across the length and breadth of the two villages and, the women appear at least 10-15 years older than they actually are.

Humble facilities of Purba Raghunathpur. Pix: author

They are tired of playing the beasts of burden.

A silent Revolution !

But, the tiredness coupled with increasing awareness campaigns has finally started triggering a silent revolution here, as Muslim women have started aspiring for a better life.  

The credit does not go to any single factor.

It is true that the increased government spending on social welfare since 2005 has started leaving its impressions. But, most of such initiatives, excluding the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, are yet to be fully implemented or its implementation is hamstrung by many associated factors including inflation and the slowing GDP growth that limits the nation’s capacity to spend.

Baish-hata, for example, recently got a modest school infrastructure, courtesy the Education-for-All programme. But its teacher student ratio is far inferior to the norms prescribed by the Right-to-Education Act.

In an effort to improve the woman and child healthcare coverage, the National Rural Health Mission, wanted to recruit one Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) for every 1000 villagers by 2012. But, till date Baish-Hata has 3 ASHA worker for a population of 10,000 and Purba Raghunathpur has one for 8,000.

WHH’s initiative has filled this gap by making women aware about the pitfalls of giving birth of too many babies that too at young ages; ways and means in ensuring a daily dose of vitamin or protein to their children to prevent malnourishment; breaking religious taboos against immunisation of children or the importance of ensuring basic hygiene as part of preventive healthcare.

The initiative has definitely touched the raw nerves as young mothers have now become insistent in ensuring a better tomorrow for their children.

If Saheba Mondal of Purba Raghunathpur is remorseful for avoiding immunization of her first child; Safia Molla of Baish-Hata is careful that her 2 year old must drink only boiled water – a sea change in approach to life in a land (Joynagar-II) that records one of the lowest health indices (0.46) in the country.

Change in the air!

Add to this, the proliferation of mass media, especially the TV boom, and the result is magical. Women are brimming with confidence to aspire for more.

If Murshida Gazi of Baish-hata is forthcoming in breaking the age-old practices that forces women to defer their lunch till the family is through with it; Saheba Mondal of Purba Raghunathpur is insistent that daughter must clear school before she is married.

Of course the level of awareness is not seamless and varies depending on the demography and the socio-economic background. The women of Purba Raghunathpur  - that is relatively poor and has higher concentration of Muslim population – for example, are relatively less vocal in airing their aspirations or to take on the male domination.

Source: www.mass-education.com

Also, there are many cultural barriers that are yet to be broken. The high ratio (nearly 80 per cent) of child-births at home and, marriages within the family lineage; are some of them.  

Yet, the change is palpable. And, even the village men admit, that times have changed for the better. 

Time to take-off

Safia Molla of Baish-hata was married off while she was in Ninth Grade in school. In March this year her daughter appeared for school final (Tenth grade) exam. She wants to be a doctor.

There were more girls in her daughter’s class than boys, claims a proud mother. She is looking forward to her daughter to become a doctor.

“If a man can be a doctor, so does a woman,” Safia is confident.

***

Growth and Development Aspirations Through Reconciliation of Conflicts

Pratim Ranjan Bose

(I prepared this paper for Jefferson Fellowship in April 2010. That was soon after India was rocked by a  series of conflicts over land acquisition for industry. Four years have gone by. India's policy direction over land has already undergone a major change. I have written many articles in the issue. But, many a issues raised in this paper may still be relevant. Taking advantage of this blog to publish it.)

“How many times can a man turn his head,

Pretending that he just doesn’t see?

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind…” Bob Dylan

In September 2008, Lehman Brothers was declared bankrupt. The dramatic collapse of one of the icons of the mighty American finance capital and the onset of the global economic crisis are immortalized in public memory by the photographs of Lehman employees literally being sent home packing.

Lehman employees leaving office. source http://notianza21.files.wordpress.com

At the same time, a large number of rural Indians were rejoicing their victory in a long-drawn intense tussle against the acquisition of fertile farmland, by the government for contemporary India’s two most talked about industrial investment proposals.

The land was acquired using legal provisions[i] that empower the state to “compulsorily” acquire privately held land for “public purposes”. In the competitive free market economy, the law helps the state governments to attract major investments, assuring on easy availability of land at competitive prices for timely project implementation. 

Referendum at Raigad. Source: The Hindu

On September 21, the farmers of Raigad, in the country’s most industrialized state of Maharashtra in the West, finally sealed the fate of a $ 87 billion[ii] SEZ project – billed as world’s largest privately built SEZ – through India’s first ever ‘referendum’. The land acquisition process was stalled mid-way. Mukesh Ambani, the scion of energy conglomerate Reliance Industries (LOST) sunk $ 130 mil in the scrapped project. 

The battlefield of Singur. Source: Business Line

A month later, in October, weeks away from the scheduled commercial production, Tata Motors and its ancillary suppliers decided to abandon a newly built integrated factory complex, for manufacturing world’s cheapest car Nano at Singur in West Bengal in the East. They were tired of facing the protesters, demanding return of the acquired land, for nearly two years. The project was relocated to Gujarat ( where larger part of the land offered were already under possession of a state institution) in the West, sacrificing approximately $ 300 million and, pushing back the production schedule of Nano.

The spanner in the wheel

Singur and Raigad were part of a series of conflicts, some of which turned extremely violent leading to loss of many lives - involving investment proposals worth hundreds of billions of dollars, requiring acquisition of millions of acres of land and the resulting impact on the livelihood - that had taken the country by storm in the middle of the last decade, when India had firmly positioned itself on a high growth trajectory[iii].

It was A time when the corporate sector was earning higher profits. From around 3500 in 2001, the country’s benchmark market index (BSE-SENSEX) was racing to touch 20,000[iv] mark. In terms of the number of billionaires[v], India (40) was becoming more prosperous than much larger and even developed economies of China (17), Italy (14), France (14) or Japan (24). The number of Indian millionaires[vi] was also racing past the 100,000 mark.

With higher returns from business and investments and spiraling corporate salaries, merely 6 per cent (62 mil) of the upper middle-class[vii] population were happy enjoying a working lunch at KFC or smoking premium Indian cigarettes at a price which is equivalent to five times the per-capita consumption expenditure of three-fourth[viii] of the total population of 1.14 billion, nearly 500[ix] million of which live below the starvation (poverty) line. Together with the rich people, the upper middle-class cornered close to one-third[x] of the national income.

Overall, India’s phenomenal 250 million (23 per cent) of the educated middle-class was happier than ever, accounting for nearly 42 per cent of the country’s personal consumption expenditure. With a market size of three times of Germany (82 million), this section was the prime attraction of doing business in India.

Cartoon source: conchacastaneda.blogspot.com

Reforms unleashed their growth potential in many ways than one. Their upward mobility[xi] is reflected in the booming market for expensive private education, thriving urban housing sector, spiraling sales of passenger cars and two-wheelers, mushrooming of shopping malls, restaurants and hotels in cities and towns; increase in sales of air-conditioners, refrigerators and a range of consumables which in turn were creating shooting demands in the core sectors including energy, steel etc

The stage was set for higher growth. The wind of ‘prosperity’ caught the imagination of the politicians. All the states – ruled by political parties of as diverse ideologies as the Leftists in West Bengal or the right wing BJP in Chattishgarh – were competing with each other for their slice of ‘growth’. A newly enacted SEZ Act (2005) was expected to accelerate this momentum by attempting to emulate China’s stupendous success in industrial growth. Talks of further reforms in areas like mining[xii], a road map for capital account convertibility[xiii] as early as in 2011 further improved the investment climate.

Raining Investments:

There is no consolidated information on this, but investment proposals, promising creation of millions of livelihood opportunities, literally rained across the length and breadth of the country between 2005 and 2007.

If the richer and more ‘investment friendly’ states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Haryana received the bulk of the over 500 proposals for the tax –free zones (SEZs); the three mineral rich states as well as poorest states of of Orissa, Chhatisgarh and Jharkhand amassed commitments worth over $ 180 billion[xiv] in mines, minerals, power and steel proposals. West Bengal attracted billions of dollars investment in, automobile, private township, petrochemical SEZs and others. Uttar Pradesh was basking in glory to have gathered nearly a dozen of proposals for ultra-mega thermal power projects.

It was time for Uttar Pradesh[xv] (UP) or Orissa[xvi] –  where 70-80 per cent of people earn less than a dollar a day, largely from agriculture, and 80[xvii] per cent rural household are not electrified – to acquire thousands of acres of farmland, each acre offering double the scope of employment. The acquired land will be used to generate merchant[xviii] power that would keep the ACs running in Delhi or produce steel to build world-class infrastructure in the commercial capital of Mumbai.

source: slugpost.com

It was now time for the illiterate malnourished fishermen of Nandigram in West Bengal or the Forest dweller tribals and dalits[xix]  of Rayagada in Orissa or Bastar and Dantewada in Chhatisgarh, Raneswar - whose existence had long been forgotten by the country - to brave resettlement as well as sacrifice their traditional life and livelihood options to pave way for petrochemicals SEZ[xx], aluminum mining[xxi] or steel plants[xxii] that would offer handful of jobs to skilled personnel.

The rude awakening

But, the party ended before it began. India was faced with a distinct manifestation of distrust by a large section of its population to the country’s growth aspirations.

The steely resolve of the agitators who were demanding return of the land acquired at Dadri[xxiii] since 2005 was repeated at Raigad and Singur (2006). The country-wide dissent against land acquisition for large SEZs took the most violent turn at Nandigram in West Bengal (2007), forcing most of the states to either put such projects on hold or take policy decisions (like Kerala) to avoid such forceful acquisitions.  Some states like Gujarat, didn’t pursue the fresh SEZ proposals at all.

Land acquisition – even for development work - has become difficult in many parts of the country, impacting over hundreds of road[xxiv] construction projects. In West Bengal, a 30-year old Leftist government faced a landslide erosion of its support base at the grassroots level. Bulk of the projects in the state were eventually scrapped or put on hold.

source: clker.com

But the most dangerous outcome of the entire episode was rapid increase in the spread of the influence of Maoists[xxv] among India’s 500 million poor. Abject poverty and increasing inequality allowed the Maoists to consolidate their presence among the tribal and dalit population in the forested, mineral rich areas of the country throughout 1990’s and by 2004-5 they became a formidable force with a presence in over 20 per cent of the landmass.

The economic boom and the resulting dissent has simply helped them in gaining newer grounds among a larger section of the poor as was evident in the rise of armed people’s militia at Nandigram.

The police firing and eventual death of 13 tribals - opposing the construction of a steel Plant by Tata Steel on the same land that was once taken away from them at a pittance - at Kalinganagar[xxvi] in January 2006, converted each and every identified location for major projects in Orissa, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh into a potential battlefield. They were losing faith on the democracy and were seeking the support of Maoists to safeguard their livelihood. Not a single major project in these states could be implemented in last five years.

Maoists today enjoy support of the poor in one-third of India’s landmass, proving serious inadequacies in Indian growth story.

Hope against despair:

 “I am confident that, after a successful implementation of the stabilizing measures and the essential structural and policy reforms, our economy would return to a path of high sustained growth with reasonable price stability and greater social equality,” the then finance minister Mr. Manmohan Singh said[xxvii], announcing the reforms in 1991.

Ironically, two decades later, as Prime Minister of the country, his government in 2010 has cautioned against “unbridled euphoria”[xxviii] over Indian’s growth story and points out that the poorest Indians did not get a fair share of the income generated in the economy.

People’s rage may have cost India the prospect to grow faster but, it had also created an opportunity for evolving a more sustainable growth model focused on distributive justice through reconciliation of conflicts, one of the most important pillars of a democracy.

More than half a century ago, the country – then grossly impoverished with a per-capita income of less than $100 at the then exchange rate decided to grow through universal suffrage – a tough choice considering that “countries of Western Europe, the US and Japan were able to sustain a democratic political system based on universal suffrage at levels of income which were much higher”[xxix].

The democracy did function uninterruptedly for sixty long years and, considering its size (over 700 mil electorate) and diversity, set an example not merely in Asia but to the rest of the world. Failures notwithstanding, it has been consistent in upholding the democratic rights of its citizen.

Yet, the recent crisis served to remind that India was yet to evolve a participatory democratic process, where the policy decisions would fulfill people’s aspirations.

The future will tell how soon, India will respond to the call.

***

---

[i] In India land is a subject matter of the state (provincial) governments. The government of India defines the broad legal outline for land acquisition through The Land Acquisition Act, 1894, to be implemented by the state governments. In addition, every state government is eligible to frame its own set of rules with regard to the application of the Central act, as long as such state specific acts or amendments are not opposed to the Central act.

[ii] INR. 4,000, billion converted into USD at the current exchange rate of INR 46 = USD 1.

[iii] India posted an average of just below nine per cent growth rate for five years between 2003-04 and 2007-08. The growth rate exceeded 9 per cent between 2005-06 and 2007-08.

[iv] Sensex peaked 20300 on Dec 11, 2007

[v] Forbes 2006-07.

[vi] Capegimini World Wealth Report.

[vii] Business Line, January 22, 2005.  http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/01/22/stories/2005012201860700.htm

[viii] 77 per cent of Indian population had per-capital consumtion expenditure of less than INR. 20 (less than half a dollar) a day in 2004-05, according to National Commission on Enterprise in Unorganized Sector.  A working launch package at KFC or a 20’s pack of premium cigarette costs around INR 100, equivalent to more than $2.

[ix] According to the existing estimates 28.6 per cent of population is below poverty line. It will move upto 38 per cent as India plans to change the methodologies, as per recommendations of Tendulkar committee. According to Human Development Report an even higher 41.6 per cent of population in India live below the international income poverty line of $1.25 a day.

[x] Human Development Report, 2004: Richest 10 per cent has a share of 27.4 per cent of income or consumption as in 1999-2000.

[xi] http://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/mginews/bigspenders.asp

[xii] Hooda Committee recommendations, 2006.

[xiii] S S Tarapore Committee recommendations, July 2006.

[xiv] INR 8378 billion. Resource Digest, Jan-Feb 2010 www.resourcedigest.info

[xv] Times of India, Oct 31, 2006. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/243108.cms

[xvi] Indian Express, September 17, 2009 http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bpl-numbers-in-orissa-nearer-to-84-pc-stud/518091/

[xvii] Census 2001.

[xviii] Merchant power plants are allowed to sell power to the highest bidder without any restrictions on tariff.

[xix] Scheduled castes. They were doing menial work in a traditional Hindu society, and were subjected to social oppression.

[xx] Salim Group Indonesia, 10000 acre

[xxi] Balco

[xxii] Essar at Dantewara, Tata Steel at Bastar and Arcellor-Mittal at Raneswar.

[xxiii] Reliance Power 7500 mw worth $ 5 bil requiring 2200 acres.

[xxiv] “131 projects delayed due to land acquisition problems”, India Infoline News Service, February 24, 2010.

[xxv] Left radicals believing in the variant of Marxism as defined by Mao Zedong  mostly gathered under the Communist Party of India (Maoists) aiming at armed revolution. The party is declared as an outlaw. In India such radicals are loosely referred as Naxal or Naxalites, in reminiscent of the rise of such forces way back in 1967 from Naxalbari village in West Bengal.

[xxvi] People’s Union for Civil Liberty status paper http://198.170.85.29/PUCL-Police-Firing-at-Kalinganagar-2-Jan-2006.doc

[xxvii] Budget Speech 1991.

[xxviii] Economic Survey 2009-10, Micro foundations of inclusive growth. Box 2.1.

[xxix] Development With Dignity by Amit Bhaduri. National Book Trust (2004).