Jeevika

Release of 94 Bonded Labourers in HD Kote taluk, Mysore district

noreply@blogger.com (Narasimhamurthy) — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 12:49:00 +0000

It was planned to give release certificates to 255 bonded labourers from different villages of HD Kote taluk on 18 February. But that day only 94 bonded labourers were given the release certificates since the administration could not manage to get ready the certificates for the remaining. The administration has promised to give the release certificates to the remaining bonded labourers by the end of this month.

For the giving of the release certificates, a large number, nearly 700, from among the members of the Union of Bonded Labourers and Agricultural Workers in HD Kote taluk were mobilised. Besides the officials, important people's representatives of the area were also invited. There were the MP, the MLA, the MLC, District-in-charge Minster, the Minister for Social Welfare apart from the Vice President of the Zilla Panchayat, President of the Taluk Panchayat and other members of the Zilla Panchayat, the Taluk Panchayat and quite a few of the Gram Panchayats. The Deputy Commissioner (DC) of the district, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Zilla Panchayat and Assistant Commissioner (AC) of the sub-division could not be present for the occasion. But the Tahsildar and the Executive Officer of the Taluk Panchayat were present. Also present was the Principal Secretary of the Karnataka Social Welfare Department.

Kiran Kamal Pasad, coordinator of JEEVIKA, in his introductory remarks, brought out the significance of the event. He highlighted the important role of the officials in Mysore district and in HD Kote taluk in particular from the beginning of the enactment of the Act on Bonded Labour in identifying, releasing and rehabilitating a large number of bonded labour in the entire state, may be also the country. He brought out that, after Chikballapur district in late 2010 and early 2011, it was in Mysore district and HD Kote taluk that bonded labourers in large numbers were released after the Karnataka Action Plan on Bonded Labour 2008 was printed and circulated in 2010. He further stressed that what was needed was the simultaneity in identification, release and rehabilitation. Otherwise, there would be a danger of relapse into further bondage by the released bonded labourers. For this not to happen, he reminded the officials present of a proposal made during the Karnataka State Level Workshop on Bonded Labour organised by the NHRC, the Karnataka Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) and Labour Departments on 18 and 19 December 2011 that the CEO of the Zilla Panchayat who is responsible to rehabilitate bonded labourers in the district should not wait for the rehabilitation grants to be released from the State or the Central Government but should use the funds at her disposal for the purpose and then claim reimbursement from the concerned Governments. He earnestly pleaded with the Executive Officer (EO) of the Taluk Panchayat present to forthwith work out rehabilitation process of the released bonded labourers and set an example to the entire state and nation. He also insisted on the need to take up regular action according to the Action Plan till the bonded labour system is wiped out totally from the taluk, district and the state.

Unfortunately, the Social Welfare Minster struck a discordant note in his speech by stating that his government does not believe that bonded labour still exists in the state. The raising of hands by the bonded labourers, during the speech by the District-in-charge Minister, stating that they were bonded labourers was a fitting rebuttal to the callous stand of the Social Welfare Minister. When all the dignitaries spoke, Kiran again took on the Social Welfare Minister and asked him not to close his eyes and be blind to evident realities in front of our eyes.

After the speeches by the dignitaries, release certificates were distributed to the 94 bonded labourers present.

The decision to grant release certificates to a large number of 255 bonded labourers was possible due to the mass action resorted to by the Union of Bonded Labourers and Agricultural Workers and JEEVIKA activists in HD Kote taluk in July 2011. About 2000 members of the Union went on an indefinite strike in front of the tahsilda’s office in HD Kote town. The local MLC pleaded with the protesters to withdraw their strike and promised to get justice to the bonded labourers. The protesters did not want to call off the strike till the DC or the AC personally came and gave assurance to them that the release certificates would be given to the 255 bonded labourers who were already reported as such by the lower officials. The strike was called off the following day when the AC in the presence of the local MLC, the MLA and the MP gave a promise that he would scrutinize and then give the release certificates within a month. But the process of scrutiny had taken the administration more than six months.

Another factor that lead to the initial reporting of 255 persons as bonded labourers by the lower officials in the taluk and later for the AC and the DC take a proper stand that they were bonded labourers was that three JEEVIKA activists and two Union members have been nominated in both the district (Mysore) VC and the sub-divisional (Hunsur) Vigilance Committees (VCs). They have been regularly bringing pressure on the DC and the AC to take up work on bonded labour in the district and the taluk according to the Karnataka Action Plan on Bonded Labour.

Decision to Give Release Certificates to 930 Bonded Labourers in Madhugiri Taluk during the Vigilance Committee Meeting of the Madhugiri Sub-division

On the same day, the AC of Madhugiri sub-division had convened a meeting of the Vigilance Committee (VC) of her sub-division. The meeting was called following the Karnataka High Court Judgment on 23 August 2011 directing the Tumkur district and Madhugiri sub-divisional administration to reconsider the case of 1186 and 203 bonded labourers according to the definition of bonded labour. JEEVIKA had identified 1186 bonded labourers in 1994 and facilitated each of those bonded labourers to file affidavits for their release and rehabilitation to the DC of Tumkur. The matter was taken up by the VC of Madhugiri sub-division only in 2007. The VC gave a direction in writing on two different dates that though among the 1186, 787 and 203 bonded labourers were in bondage at the time they submitted their affidavits to the DC, they were not entitled for any rehabilitation grants since they were not in bondage at present. This was clearly against the declared policy of the State Government. For in 1994, a Central Committee on Bonded Labour had given a number of recommendations on bonded labour to the Central Government and the Central Government had circulated them to all the State Governments. One of the recommendations was that even if a bonded labourer was not in bondage at the time of investigation but was in bondage at the time she submitted her affidavit for release and rehabilitation, she was entitled for rehabilitation grants. The Karnataka Government had passed a Circular to the entire state stating that it was accepting the recommendations of the Committee and they were for necessary implementation.

JEEVIKA and the Karnataka Union of Bonded Labourers filed a writ petition in the Karnataka High Court in 2007 challenging the decisions of the VC of the Madhugiri sub-division. The final judgement was given in August 2011. The district and the sub-divisional administrations were since then scrutinising the whereabouts of the 787 and 203 bonded labourers. The VC in its meeting on 18 February decided to issue release certificates to 930 bonded labourers. A few more cases are still to be decided. JEEVIKA is pursuing the case of another few hundreds of bonded labourers in the same sub-division and is hopeful of getting justice for them.

Here also the success of getting justice to such a large number of bonded labourers in one sub-division is mainly due to the presence in the Madhugiri sub-divisional VC of two JEEVIKA activists from Madhugiri and Pavagada taluks who have been consistently raising the issue of 1186 bonded labourers in the VC.

Kiran Kamal Prasad.

24 February 2012

The Dignitaries on the stage before giving the release certificates to Bonded Labourers.

Kiran Kamal Prasad addressing the gathering.

The M.P Sri Dhruvanarayana giving out a release certificate

The District Incharge Minister Sri Ramdas giving out a release certificate

The Principal Secretary, Social Welfare, Sri. E. Venkataiah giving out a release certificate, with Mr. Umesha Jeevika District Co-ordinator helping the process.

The Principal Secretary, Social Welfare, Sri. E. Venkataiah giving out a release certificate.

The Taluk Panchayat President , Sri. Gopalaswamy giving out a release certificate.

The members of the union of bonded labourers & agricultural workers in the gathering.

Kiran Kamal Prasad addressing the released bonded labourers

The members of the union of bonded labourers & agricultural workers in the gathering

Jeevika: Release of 94 Bonded Labourers in HD Kote taluk, M...

noreply@blogger.com (Narasimhamurthy) — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 07:42:00 +0000

Release of 94 Bonded Labourers in HD Kote taluk, Mysore district on 18 February 2012: It was planned to give release certificates to two of them.

Fifth three yearly convention

noreply@blogger.com (Suraj O) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 07:28:00 +0000

The fifth three yearly convention of Karnataka Bonded Labourers and Landless Agricultural Workers’ Union was organized in Yadgir town of Yadgir district on May 22 and 23, 2011. The two day convention consisted of various programmes like state elections of the Union, a seminar and a cultural evening on the first day and a rally and a public stage programme on the second day. Honorable Central Labour Minister Dr. Mallikarjuna Kharge, graced the second day’s public programme with his presence.

Details:

May 22, 2011- More than 800 hundred delegates from different parts of Karnataka (17 taluks in 10 old districts and 5 new districts) took part in the elections. A few observers were also invited for the same. Prior to the convention, village and taluk level elections had taken place in all the 17 taluks. The seventeen taluk presidents were to elect the four office bearers of state committee. Two presidents from Chennapatna and Kolar taluks were absent. To make the election fair and transparent, few observers from various sections of the society ranging from political activists to professors from reputed educational institutions were also invited. During this year’s election, voice vote was changed to secret ballot system. The following office bearers were elected. They are: 1. President- Chikka Siddiah (HD Kote taluk), 2. Vice President- Prakash, Bailahongal taluk, 3. Secretary- Seenappa, Hosakote taluk and 4. Treasurer- Huliyappa, Yadagiri Taluk.

Before the elections were to be held, all the 15 taluk presidents expressed their views on the works done so far in their taluks and also in the near future how they will carry out the union’s long time goal of eradicating bonded labour in Karnataka. All the 15 presidents present were impressed upon the need to select the most capable among them as made out from their presentations and not to be swayed by any other extraneous criteria. A simple yet delicious lunch followed the elections.

After the lunch a seminar was held for three hours on “The Situation of Bonded labour in North Karnataka”. The invited political activists cum dalit leaders from the new as well as old districts explained about the situation of bonded labour in their districts and the various experiences they encountered while identifying and reporting on bonded labourers. The speakers were: Indumati, Bidar district, Baslingappa, Raichur district, Durgappa, Koppal district, Charappa, Bellary District, Mariappa, Gadag district, Hanumantha, Gowribidanur taluk, Chikballapur district, Gangahanumayya, Magadi taluk, Ramnagar district, Sarawati, Chinthamani taluk, Chikballapur District and Munirathnamma, Chikballapur District.

Basavaraj from HD Kote taluk, Mysore facilitated the entire session in an energetic manner. Gopal, one of the core group members of JEEVIKA gave the introductory speech and Kiran Kamal Prasad, the overall coordinator of JEEVIKA presided over the function.

Because of the long deliberations in the morning and in the afternoon and also the long travels the previous day and night, the evening cultural programme was reduced to singing of a few songs.

The next day, i.e., May 23 was marked by a rally was taken out in the main streets of Yadgiri town by the delegates and nearly 1000 members of the Union and Self Help Groups and other sympathizers of the Union and JEEVIKA. The rally culminated at the venue of open stage public programme on the playgrounds of Government Junior College. The theme of the public programme was “The Role of Government in Eradicating Bonded Lobour System in Karnataka and the Country". Honourable Central Labour Minister Dr. Mallikarjuna Kharge inaugurated the programme by the traditional dalit way, i.e. beating tamate, a type of drum signifying dalits’ resistance to the age old slavery system. Siddappa Lingeri, Yadgiri taluk coordinator, welcomed the gatherings. The introductory speech was delivered by Kiran Kamal Prasad at the end of which he read out a memorandum detailing various steps that require be taking by the Central Labour Ministry to effectively tackle bonded labour and handing it over to the Minister. The measures suggested were as follows:

Continuously direct State Governments and Union Territories to take firm actions according to the Bonded Labour System Abolition Act, 1976.
Earmark appropriate funds in the Central Budget for conducting ongoing surveys on bonded labour and for rehabilitating the released bonded labourers.
Direct all State Governments and Union Territories to bring out state specific Action Plans on Bonded Labour on the lines of the “Karnataka Action Plan on Bonded Labour 2008”.
Direct National Sample Survey Organisation of India to carry out periodic and continuous surveys and studies on bonded labour in all the States and Union Territories of India so as to provide reliable data on the incidence of bonded labour and on the areas or districts where bonded labour is still prevalent.
Of the 65,000 and odd bonded labourers identified, released and rehabilitated by the Karnataka Government since 1976, hardly 1500 are from the northern districts consisting almost half of the state and which are more backward than the southern districts. The workshop carried out yesterday and the deliberations during the programmes today show that bonded labour is very much prevalent in all the North Karnataka districts. As the Central Labour Minsitry has directed time and again in the past, identification of bonded labour must be entrusted to reputed NGOs who are active on the issue of bonded labour. Vimukti Trust, JEEVIKA and the Okkuta have been involving with bonded labour in almost all the districts of the state and they are doing very credible work as indicated above. In this context, we are ready to join the hands of the government, if we are entrusted with the task of identification of bonded labour in the entire state with suitable support and protection.
One of the chief mechanisms for the effective implementation of the Bonded Labour System Abolition Act, 1976 is the proper constitution of the district and sub-division level Vigilance Committees on Bonded Labour with up to five nominations from active leaders with bonded labour from dalit and adivasi communities. The bonded labour leaders from the Okkuta and the activists from JEEVIKA could very well be nominated on those Vigilance Committees.
There is no specific National Commission on Bonded labour so far. The National Human Rights Commission is mandated by the Supreme Court in 1996 to monitor the implementation of the Act on Bonded Labour in the entire country. We request the Central Labour Ministry to organize in collaboration with the National Human rights Commission national level annual conferences / workshops / seminars on bonded labour so as to continuously keep track on the various issues connected with bonded labour, keep updated with the latest facts and trends on bonded labour and take ongoing stock about the work done on bonded labour by the state governments. We are ready to collaborate in this venture as actively as possible.

In his speech, as a response to Kiran’s speech, the Honourable Central Minister promised to look into all the issues raised in the introductory speech and brought out in the memorandum. He promised the gatherings that the positive role of the state will accompany and enable bonded labourers and bonded labour activists in their zeal of eradicating the bonded labour system. The MLA of Yadgiri constituency Dr. Malak Reddy felicitated the programme. Dr. Jagrathi Deshamane from Agricultural College, Raichur too spoke about the prevalence of bonded labour in north Karnataka and highlighted the situation of devadasis which in many cases would also be bonded labour. Other dignitories on the dais were Presidents of Yadgiri Town Panchayat, Yadgiri Taluk Panchayat and Yadgiri Agricultural Produce Marketing Cooperative Society and local bureaucrats. The newly elected state level president of the union, Chikka Siddaiah presided and Umesha, one of the JEEVIKA cultural coordinator facilitated the programme. Ramaswamy, another JEEVIKA cultural coordinator led a few other JEEVIKA cultural activists in singing a few awareness songs on bonded labour during the programme. Hanumantha Reddy, one of the Yadgiri activists gave a vote of thanks at the end of the programme. The presence in large numbers of local people, the members of the Union and Self Help Groups in Yadgiri taluk, the delegates and activists from other taluks and districts made the program successful and memorable.

Awards to 13 bonded labors

noreply@blogger.com (Suraj O) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 08:18:00 +0000

Giving away Arthur Awards (Aadhaara Koduge – Supportive Gifts) to 13 Former Bonded Labourers on 1 April 2011

On the 1st April JEEVIKA organised a simple, meaningful and yet very effective programme to give out the Arthur Awards which we have named in Kannada, "Aadhaara Koduge" meaning supportive gifts. Thirteen former bonded labourers and present active members of the union of bonded labourers from nine taluks were earlier scrutinised and selected in a thorough manner and given that day cheques of varying amounts in their names to enable them to buy some self supporting asset for their livelihood. A majority of them have opted for milching cows, two for bullocks, one each for goats, a petty shop and basket making.

The thirteen persons are: Sriramappa (Hosakote taluk, Bangalore Rural district), Gangadhara (Bangarapete, Kolar), Dodda Yeleyappa (Magadi, Ramanagar), HC Choudappa (Bagepally, Chikballapur), N Kadirappa (Gudibande, Chikballapur), M Narayanappa (Gauribidanur, Chikballapur), Ramamurthy (Pavagada, Tumkur), Prakash Hanamantha Bharametri (Bailahongal, Belganv), Mahadeva, Somayya, Ningayya, Somanna and Shivannegowda (HD Kote, Mysore).

The programme was simple since it was an in-house affair held in our own training centre at Nagarabhavi, Bangalore. Yet nearly 120 of our activists and union leaders from the 17 taluks spread out in 10 districts took part. Some from the new districts supported by the grant from the Harriet Tubman Freedom Award were also present like Bidar, Bijapur, Bellary and Chitradurga.

It was meaningful because the awards were distributed in a common programe rather than individually in their villages. The meaningfulness was further enhanced because we managed to get three very important dalit leaders, intellectuals and politicians to inaugurate and give away the awards. They were Sri AR Krishnamurthy, the present chairman of Dr. BR Ambedkar Development Corporation, Dr. Siddalingaiah, a famous and popular dalit or Kannada poet, one of the founders of dalit movement in Karnataka in the mid 70s (DSS - Dalita Sangarsha Samiti), present chairman of Kannada Book Developemnt Authority and one who raised questions in the Karnataka Legislature on bonded labour on behalf of JEEVIKA when he was an MLC (member of Legislative Council) from 1990 to 2002 for two terms and Dr. Manohar Yadav, Head of the Sociology Department at ISEC (Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore) and who was an active DSS member from his student days and having very close contacts with leaders of dalit movements and dalit intellectuals not only from the state but also from all over the country.

It was effective in many different ways. First of all, the programme gave us an opportunity to revisit the concerns of JEEVIKA by all the activists and the union leaders. Sri Gopal, a member of the JEEVIKA Core Group, very touchingly presented the history and concerns of JEEVIKA. The giving away of awards was a new programme in the life of JEEVIKA. Its significance and its role not only in securing decent livelihoods to bonded labourers but mainly to promote leaders from among them were clearly brought to the notice of everyone present.

Once the programme was over we could feel that the three dignitaries we had invited were the most suitable for the occasion. Sri Krishnamurthy was a recent friend of JEEVIKA through the contacts of our activists in HD Kote. He had taken part in an earlier programme of JEEVIKA organised at the end of October 2010 to facilitate Kiran and Shivanna on receiving the Harriet Tubman Freedom Award. At that time itself he had assured us that he would like to develop some specific development programmes for the released bonded labourers. That promise is yet to be implemented but he was still keen on pursuing it.
Apart from that, during the present programme he came out with a few more specific assurances that would help not only the released bonded labourers but also JEEVIKA activists in securing livelihood resources and procuring lands for dalits and bonded
labourers.

The speech of Dr. Siddalingaiah was the most energising. He is not only a great poet but also a great orator. His message on the power of the struggle of the poor combined with rationality or awakening captivated everyone. In my presidential speech, I brought out his great contribution to the cause of bonded labour in Karnataka and in nurturing JEEVIKA. After two years of gathering data on bonded labour from one taluk, Dr. Siddalingaiah used the data to question the government in the legislature in June 1990 on its policy on bonded labour. This was in the context of the Karnataka Government officially declaring since 1980 that it had wiped out the system in the state. I certainly feel that it was due to the power of oratory and stature of Dr. Siddalingaiah that the minister concerned readily acknowledged the survival of the evil system and readily gave an assurance to do whatever that was required to be done under the law. This was the first victory in lobbying and advocacy by JEEVIKA and the administrative machinery started moving slowly in favour of bonded labour. Dr. Siddalingaiah during all the 12 years he was in the Legislature kept the government on tenterhooks by continuously raising questions on bonded labour. His powerful poetry full of evocative imagery continues to inspire dalit and other progressive activists in all the villages of Karnataka. His presence itself was inspiring and much more the message he gave us during the programme.

Dr. Manohar Yadav noted that JEEVIKA is a dalit movement and very effective at that. He also pointed out the necessity for dalit organisations to build up independent financial institutions to nurture dalits. In my speech I brought out his significance to JEEVIKA in the immediate future. JEEVIKA had launched 'barefoot research' in 1998 but did not pursue it for lack of funds. Ongoing action research has to be initiated to support its activities. JEEVIKA also requires to forge closer links with other dalit and progressive movements. In all this, the support from Dr. Yadav would be very crucial.

Thanks to Roger Plant and the donation of his Wilberforce Freedom Award in the name of his beloved father, Arthur Plant, who passed away in mid 2010, JEEVIKA was able to launch a new and important programme to benefit bonded labourers as also its efforts at eradicating the bonded labour system. We hope the programme will live up to its objective and grow further. There is already an indication that it will grow as all the 13 beneficiaries declared that they would contribute to a common pool from their profits so as to help other needy former bonded labourers who need support. Great gesture!

We also hope that the success of this programme would motivate Roger Plant and others to mobilize further support for the many different programmes and activities of JEEVIKA.

Some of the photographs of the occasion are attached.

Kiran kamal prasad.

5 April 2011

102 bonded laborers released

noreply@blogger.com (Suraj O) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 18:14:00 +0000

Gudibande, KA, India,

102 bonded labourers were given release certificates by the tahsildar of Gudibande taluk, Chikballapur taluk. Some of the photogrpahs of the event are attached. The local MLA was also present. Commending the efforts of the tahsildar in providing the release certificates to the bonded labourers,

I emphasised the need to continuously identify the bonded labourers and rehabilitate them till the bonded system is wiped out in the taluk and also spelled out the different components of rehabilitation mandated in the Karnataka Action Plan on Bonded Labour.

The Karnataka Government has issued a Government Order on 4 November 2010 nominating Vimukti Trust, Nagarabahvi as a member of the Karnataka State Level High Power Committee on Bonded Labour. As a follow up of the NHRC meeitng on Bonded Labour in Karnataka held on 16 September 2010, in which I had raised a number of issues regarding implementation of the Bonded Labour Act, the High Power Committee in its meeting on 8 October 2010 had resolved to undertake a number of measures regarding bonded labour in Karnataka. Some of them were, forming Vigilance Committees in all districts; undertaking a statewide survey on bonded labour; and nominating Vimukti Trust as a member of the High Power Committee. The Committee is headed by the Additonal Chief Secretary of the State and Principal Secretaries of all the relevant departments, like Rural Developoment and Panchayat Raj, Labour, Law, Justice and Human Rights, Home, Revenue, Social Welfare, Women and Child, Agriculture, Sericulture, Horitculture, Primary Education, Finance, Planning and Institutional Finances and Town Development, are its members.

Jeevika Day - 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Suraj O) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 18:13:00 +0000

Jeevika organized a dialogue on nature and extent of bonded labour in Karnataka and the Role of the Government on 15th September from 6 - 7.30 pm at the "Conference Hall of Legislators Home".

The participants of the Dialogue were

Justice B.C. Patel Member (National Human Rights Commission, New Delhi)
Dr. Ravivarma Kumar (Senior Advocate and former Chairman, Karnataka Permanent Backward Classes Commission)
P. Ravikumar (Principal Secretary to the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, the ministry that monitors the implementation of the Act on Bonded Labour in the state)
Sri Sri Kiran Kamal Prasad (Coordinator, Jeevika, district and taluk level leaders of Jeevika and bonded labour leaders from different parts of Karnataka).
Justice K.G. Balakrishnan – who was to join in the Dialogue could not make it due to sudden illness.

Discussion in the meeting

Role and vision of Jeevika from 1990.
2000 bonded labour identified in Karnataka.
Bonded labours are identified only from South Karnataka, not a single bonded labour has been identified from North Karnataka.
Although Action plan has been put in place, slowness of Govt in executing action and also change of govt officials causes additional challenge.
Bonded Labourers are afraid to come out in the open.

Various Jeevika leaders from the different regions of the state ,(northern Karnataka – Siddapppa Lingeri), northwestern Karnataka (Gopala), central Karnataka), southwest Karnataka – Basavaraj and Umesha, southeast Karnataka - Hanumantharayappa) very touchingly placed before the gathering of nearly 150 people the situation of bonded labourers in the different districts prevailing in the districts. Some of those leaders were themselves bonded labourers. One of them (Gangahanumaiah) described graphically several attempts by the slaveholders to kill him.

P. Ravikumar acknowledged that he was moved by all the sharings. Had he known the type of meeting that was going to take place he would have brought with him all his colleagues in the department to the programme. Though he had been a district magistrate in most of the northern districts, he was not made aware of any case of bonded labour, he lamented. The day’s programme had opened his eyes to the issue, he acknowledged. He pleaded for support from non governmental organizations in tackling bonded labour.

Prof. Ravivarma Kumar brought out in telling way that government machinery cannot deal with issues that require to be addressed with a heart. If it is sincere it must rope in the support of individuals and groups that can address the issue of bonded labourers in an effective way. In that respect, he pointed out that the Act on Bonded Labour mandates the district and sub divisional magistrates to nominate at least three leaders from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Communities on the Vigilance Committees on Bonded Labour. Further, he drew the attention to a directive from the Central Labour Ministry that former bonded labour leaders must also be involved in the efforts of the government in eradicating bonded labour. Then he described how bonded labour system is part of the caste system. He noted that there are 30,000 hamlets of dalits and adivasis in Karnataka which are segregated from the main villages. These are distinct ethnic communities kept separate from the dominant villages for the purpose of ensuring bonded and cheap labour. They are similar to the apartheid (living apart) system in South Africa abhorred and abolished a few decades back. He called upon the National Human Rights Commission to work towards abolishing Indian version of apartheid and thus also bonded labour system.

Justice B.C. Patel pointed out that nil reports on bonded labour from the state governments cannot be accepted at their face value. The district magistrates must be held directly responsible for any case of bonded labour. He pointed out that inspite of many progressive laws and Supreme Court Judgements, the inquiries by the NHRC has proved the persistence of bonded labour to this day. He called upon the officials to respond to bonded labourers with a heart. Sri Nitish Ramesh, the young advocate who translated the speech of Justice Patel and a sympathiser of Jeevika, at the end made some useful observations to counter the apathy of the bureaucrats. He suggested that it should be mandated that fresh incumbents to offices supposed to take action on bonded labour must be made to go through a sensitistion programme on bonded labour.

The programme was quite a success in that all the important people that mattered came together to deliberate on the issue of bonded labour in Karnataka. It was a matter of relief to hear from the PS of RDPR that he was enlightened on the issue. This attitude evidently opens up many possibilities for meaningful and effective action on bonded labour in Karnataka. It was heartening to hear from Justice B.C. Patel the firm stand taken by the NHRC on the existence of bonded labour and the requirement to take stringent action regarding it. Prof. Ravivarma Kumar’s illuminations on the intimate relationship of bonded labour system and caste system have thrown further light on the stand of Jeevika linking bonded labour and caste system in India. Much hope has been generated in the activists. We require to take forward the positive gains made at the Dialogue of Jeevika Day 2010 on September 15.

Action Aid India Dec-09

noreply@blogger.com (Suraj O) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:11:00 +0000

Action Aid India - Dec 2009 (15 districts of Karnataka)

Jeevika has been working with bonded labour issues since 1996. In fact, eradication of bonded labour is its main focus and the goal of all its programmes and activities.

All its programmes and activities can be summarised as bringing about systemic and lasting change through lobbying and advocacy from the lowest to the highest levels required to bring about suitable laws and policies and implement them and through conscientization and organisation building of the persons affected by the evil of bonded labour to make them effective agents of transformation.

Vimukti Trust was invited by the Government of Karnataka in 2004 to draw up an Action Plan on Bonded Labour. The Action Plan, though originally submitted in 2005 was approved in July 2007 in two languages, Kannada and English. Vimukti Trust had also impressed upon the GOK to print the required large number of copies of the Action Plan in Kannada, i.e., 10,000, to be distributed to all the officials concerned as also the activists in the field. This last proposal was materialised in October 2009. Vimukti Trust had further suggested to the GOK to distribute the copies to the officials in a novel way by organising trainings on the Action Plan at the levels of district (at that time 29, but now 30) and taluk (176). Though the GOK was sympathetic to the suggestion, the heavy floods in North Karnataka in early October made it to think of nothing else but concentrate on tackling the havoc caused by the floods. The Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RD&PR), which in Karnataka also monitors the implementation of the Bonded Labour Act, was the main agency involved in this task. It was not in a position to do anything on the Action Plan for the time being. It circulated the copies to the officials through official channels.

Further, Vimukti Trust had taken up a new programme in 2007 with a one-time grant by Action Aid India to spread the movement on bonded labour going by the name, JEEVIKA, [i.e., Bonded Labour Front in Karnataka and meaning Life Free of Bondage,] to all the districts and taluks of the state.

Capitulating on the possibilities offered by the publication of the Action Plan by the GOK in late 2009, Vimukti Trust publicised its concern to reach out on its own to dalit youth and leaders in all the districts and taluks, building on the contacts in those areas since 2007, and place the Action Plan directly in their hands so that they become enlightened and empowered to act as effective pressure builders on the officials to take up measures detailed out in the Action Plan.

To our great surprise and encouragement, the Irish Embassy/Irish Aid, New Delhi, was the first to offer itself to support trainings on the Action Plan to dalit youth in 10 north districts in Karnataka. [Irish Aid, Dublin had earlier supported Vimukti Trust, through Anti Slavery International, London, in some of its activities for two years from 2005 to 2007. It conducted an evaluation of the outcome of those activities towards the end of 2008. The findings were highly satisfying and encouraging. The Irish Embassy/Irish Aid, New Delhi was also associated with the evaluation process and hence came to be on the mailing list of Vimukti Trust.]

Once this was assured, Vimukti Trust requested Action Aid India to support similar activities in another 15 districts. Of the four remaining districts, two coastal districts, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, were kept out because the incidence of bonded labour, from all available indications, is considered to be less there; Chikkaballapur and Bangalore Urban districts were kept out because the former and Anekal taluk in the latter would otherwise be covered by Vimukti Trust. The coastal taluks of Uttara Kannada were also kept out because of the same reason as that of the two coastal districts.

The Programme:

The programme, though extensive in the coverage of the geographic area, was simple in concept and design. The 20 taluk units where Vimukti Trust is intensely working on bonded labour had adopted one new district in 2007 to extend the activities on bonded labour by mobilising interested and capable dalit youth. Some activities were carried out for the purpose and some minimal contact has been kept up since then. Some of those activities were: identifying three to five villages in a taluk where there were more than five bonded labourers; organising willing dalit youth in those villages into informal groups and giving them some trainings on the Bonded labour Act, the mechanisms under it, the processes that require to be taken up under it by the dalit youth and the ways to go about them. One particular concern was, while taking up the cause of bonded labourers in their villages, the dalit youth should see to it that they get nominated on the Vigilance Committees. These leaders were brought together for seminars and strengthening the network at the state level in 2007 and 2008.

The 20 taluk units were to take up the same new districts now. Five activists of a taluk would go its district of adoption, renew the old contacts or establish new ones by going round all the taluks in the district for five days, disseminate information on the Action Plan and invite some dalit youth, at the rate of 10 to 15 per taluk, for a training on the Action Plan at the district headquarters on the sixth day. Around 50 to 70 persons were expected to take part in the training. Each district was to be given 25 copies of the Action Plan, 10 copies of the Training Manual on Bonded Labour and, for distribution in all the villages, sufficient number of copies of the brochures on the Act, the SR Sankaran’s Guidelines on Identification of Bonded Labour and Recommendations of AK Chakravorty Commission. The district level trainings were to be conducted by Kiran Kamal Prasad and other core group members, Ramakrishna, Ramaswamy, Umesha, Gopala, Papamma and Manjula by making power point presentations on the Action Plan and using other methods of discussion, sharing and reading relevant portions from the Action Plan.

The district level training was to consist of two main parts. The first part would ensure correct understandings of the main provisions in the Act, relevant provisions in the Constitution and some international covenants, concept of bonded labour, guidelines to identify bonded labour and various important elements in the Action Plan. The first would be followed by an interlude wherein a discussion was to be held on the incidence of bonded labour in the district. After this, the second part was carried out which consisted of drawing up follow up action to tackle bonded labour using the Action Plan in all the villages, gram panchayats, taluks, sub-division(s) and the district. After the second part and the closure of the training, the selected leaders were to visit district level officials.

The mobilistion and trainings were to be completed by the end of December 2009. The first mobilizations started simultaneously in the two districts of Kolar and Mysore on the 16^th and the first two trainings were conducted in those districts on the 22^nd, and the 15^th and final mobilisation started on the 26^th in Shimoga district and the final training took place there on the 31^st.

The Implementation:

The trainings in the 15 districts were fixed as follows: On 22, in Kolar by Ramakrishna and in Mysore by Umesha; on 23, in Banagalore Rural by Ramakrishna and in Camarajanagara by Umesha; on 24, in Tumkuru by Ramakrishna and Manjula, in Mandya by Ramaswamy, in Kodagu by Umesha; on 26 in Ramanagara by Umesha; on 27, in Chitradurga by Kiran assisted by Ramaswamy, Gopala and Papamma; on 28 in Davanagere by Kiran assisted by Ramaswamy, Gopala and Papamma; on 29 in Haveri by Kiran assisted by Gopala and in Hassan by Ramaswamy; on 30 in Siris (Uttara Kannada) by Kiran and in Chikkamagaluru by Ramaswamy; and on 31 in shimoga by Kiran.

Kolara and Shimoga districts were adopted by the Bangarapete taluk activists; Mysore, Chamarajanagara and Kodagu by the HD Kote ones; Bangalore Rural and Davanagere by the Hosakote ones; Tumakuru and Chitradurga by the Pavagada ones; Tumakuru and Chikkamagaluru by the Madhugiri one; Mandya and Hassan by the Madduru ones; Haveri by the Chikkaballapura ones; and Sirsi/Uttara Kannada by the Chintamani ones.

The taluk coordinators and taluk women coordinators were trained on the contents of the Action Plan during the three monthly meetings of October, November and December. They in turn trained their respective taluk teams. Once the dates were set, each taluk team visited the taluks in the district of their adoption for five days previous to the date set for district level training.

The visits to villages and taluks in districts and the district level trainings went on as planned. Almost in all districts, the response of dalit youth and leaders was tremendous and very encouraging. A large number of dalit youth were gathered together for district level trainings. Only in two districts there was a slight set back. In Bangalore Rural, not many dalit youth turned up for the meeting held in Bangalore. A second meeting was then fixed at a taluk town, Devanahally for which dalit youth from different taluks came. In Chikkamagaluru district also the participants were just around 20. Except for these two districts, in all other districts the participants numbered anywhere from 50 to 80.

The method of the training had to be adapted significantly. Power point presentations were jettisoned. Invariably the participants would gather late in the morning, since they had to travel from distant villages. Hence the time available would be quite short, hardly four to five hours with an hour’s break for meals in the early afternoon. Taking account of all this and also to make the participants familiar and thorough with the contents of the Action Plan, the method devised on the spot was to read out in turns important sections in the Action Plan, give the gist of them and elaborate or comment on them section by section.

During the part of discussing follow-up plans, a suggestion came from the participants to select leaders for taluks and at the levels of sub-division and district. The district level leaders were to be close to the district town, the sub-division leader to the sub-divisional town and the taluk level leader to the taluk town so as to easily remain in contact with those officials. They were to ensure implementation of the measures given in Action Plan at the levels of district, sub-division, taluk and gram panchayat. After the training, these leaders were to meet the district level officers like the DC, Headquarter’s DC, CEO, DS, and sub-divisional level officers like the AC and taluk level officers like Tahsildar, EO all pertaining to the district town. During the very first training, the selected leaders suggested choosing a dalit youth for each of the gram panchayats and if possible for each village and gather them all for a meeting at the district level some time in February.

Outcome of the Trainings:

1. Selection of leaders at the levels of taluk, sub-division and district. See Schedule I.

Schedule I

1. 22-12-2009 – Kolara

2. 22-12-2009 – Mysore

District in charge: Chandru – 9972121859
District VC members: Umesha, Basavaraj, Teresia, AT Krishna
Mysuru - Chandru – 9972121859
Hunsuru – Nataraj – 9922326244 (Sub-division VC member)
Periyapattana - Satish – 9342815581 (Hunsuru sub-division VC member)
KR Nagara – Basavaraj – 9741053659
Nanjanagud – Shekar – PP-Basavaraju: 9844776931 (Mysuru Sub-division VC member)
T Narasipura – Nanjundaswamy - 9900746563

3. 23-12-2009 – Bangalore Rural

Pema (Banglore Rural), Santhoshkatappa ( Devanahalli),
Seenappa(Hosakote), Sriramappa(hosakote)

4. 23-12-2009 – Chamarajanagara

District in charge: Shivanna – 9980264410
Chamarajapete - Shivanna – 9980264410
Gundlupete – Basavaraj Kebbepura – 9019798839 / 9741211238
- Swamy – 9742039605
Yelanduru – Nagendra – 9620733564
- Shivamurthy Madduru – 9731685715
- Siddaraju – 9902190154
Kollegal – Kachchi madar - 9739967263

5. 24-12-2009 – Tumkuru

District In charge: Hucchaiah, Narashimharaju and Kittanna Honnapura
Taluk Level - Chikkirappa(Dodderi hobali) 9008273792,
- Govindapaa(Midageshi Hobali). Timmaiah(Puravara),
Nagaratnamma (Madhugiri).
Gubbi – Venktaaramaiah, Nagaraju K.S,9964270925, Lalitha,
Sumalatha,Hucchaiah, Narasimharaju, souwmya, Nagarathnamma, Nagaathan, Shanthamma, Kariyanna
Turuvekere- Umapathi, Shivanna, Rangaswamy, Ramamurthy, Manjunatha,
Niganaraju, Raghu, Nagaraju
Tipaturu - Nagendranayka(Kasaba), Barathkumara (Nonakere)
9036682554, Halesh kumar(Kibanahalli), Punith Kumar(Honnavalli)9844926069,Jayaram
Tumkur town: Kittanna 9739541912, Parushram (Bellavi Hobli)
9740895419, Obalanarasimha,9880588723, Gangahanumaiah(Ordigere Hobli), Lakshimkanth
(Kora Hobli) 9164478314,S.K.Basavaraju (guluru Hobli) 9019225009.
Shira - Ramalingaiah 9845762134, Gangamma,9611673086, Lavany (Kasba) Anandappa,(Bukkapattana), Tippeswamy(Gowdage)
Nagaraj (kallambelli)

24-12-2009 – Mandya

District in charge: B.Rajashekar 9611850285(Malavalli), M.S.Mahesh
9980209853(Pandavapura), Devaraju 9731470896(Maddur),
Sub Devision: Ramananda 9964521923(Maddur), Siddayya,
9880064151(Mandya), Siddaraju 9591834216(Malavalli)
Pandavapura Sub Devision : Pradeepa 9964989282(K.R.Pete), Krishna
9844155793(Pandavapura), Kuberappa 9845181097(Pandavapur)

7. 24-12-2009 – Kodagu

Virajapete – H.Mallige – 9611652442
Somavarapete – Jagadeesh- 9448005693
Madikeri – Divakar – 9449169852

8. 26-12-2009 – Ramanagara

District in charge: Balaiah(Magadi)
Shivaraju-9976666850(Kanakapura), Mruthunjaya- 9632072429 & Krishnappa – 9844346859(Ramanagara)
Sub-Division in charger- Mruthunjaya Nayka(Ramanagara)
Prakasha doddayaleyappa(Magadi), Shivaprasad & Narashimhamurthy (Channapattana)
Shivaraj & Venkatesh (kanakapura)
Kanakapura - Shivaraju, Venkatesh, Manju , Guru, Krishnappa,
Ramanagara - Mruthunjaya, Krishnappa, Ramachandra, Siddaraju,
Krishnanayaka.
Channapattana- Shivaraju, Narasihmamurthy, mahadeva, Mantya,
Mallikarjuna, Nachegowda, shivaprasad.
Magadi - Doddamaleyappa, Attabariyappa, Ramesha, Ravikumara, Balayya.

9. 27-12-2009 – Chitradurga

District in charge: R. Venkatesh 9448176595
Shivakumar 9448237181 (Chitradurga)
Hanumanthappa – 9590233495 (Chitradurga)
Chitradurga- Shivakumar 9448237181
Hanumanthappa – 9590233495
Chellakere – Shekar – 9379603750
Nagaraj – 9845889063
Holalkere – Kasturappa – 9980448737
Hosadurga – Prasanna – 9740774211
Molkalmuru – S. Rajashekar – 9535450567
Ninganna – 9880777628
Hiriyuru – Tippeswamy – 9980887221

10. 28-12-2009 – Davanagere

District in charge: Sadanand – 9901908629 (Davanagere)
Rangappa – 9845144934 (Jagaluru)
Krishnappa – 9731890330
Prabhu (Jagaluru) – 9611373626
Davanagere – Sadanand – 9901908629
Chennagiri – Manju – 9535458408
Devendra – 9880543208
Mahanthappa – 9901347392
Jagaluru – Rangappa – 9845144934
Hanumanthappa – 9844282727
Honnali – Maruthi – 9916366500
Ganesh – 9008687979
Harihara – Hanumantha – 9901992529
Harappanahally – S. Shivappa – 9880257172

11.

29-12-2009 – Haveri

District in charge: Mallesh shivappa Kudal – 9902075474 (Haveri)
Shantha Gowdar – 8105050521 (Hanagal)
Haveri – Mallesh Shivappa Kudal - 9902075474
Hanumanthappa Durgappa Nigalli – 9737745337
Ranibennuru – Chandrappa Basavannappa – 9611532094
Ningappa Puttappa harijan – 9844927521
Ramappa - 9739539231
Byadagi – Santhosh Hanumanthappa Sidlammanavar – 9741829620
Chodappa – 9739422515
Hirekerur – Parasuram Ramappa Kelageri – 9632457983
Ashoka Shivappa Dombar – 9731401454
Savanur – Malleshappa Buddappa Doddamani – 9164181406
Fakirappa Kariaappa - 9980216957
Shigganv – Bhimappa – 9008554435
Jagadish Hosamani – 9731844080
Hangal – Shanthan Gowdar - 8105050521
Lakshman Kenchappa Madar
Nagaraj B. Barki - 9448611068
Guddeppa Durgappa Harijan – 9164685791
Nagappa Veerappa Harijan – 9901902938
Nagappa MA – 9901902938

12.

29-12-2009 – Hassana

District Level: Naveen kumar 9972612473(Belur), Raghu.

9845572920(Belur), Suresha 9743900560(Harasikere)

13. 30-12-2009 – Sirsi Subdivision (Uttara kannada district)

Sub-division in charge: Hanumanthapa H. Onikar – 9008813836 (Mundgod)
Raghu Rama Gangamatha – 9686909865
Satish Shankar Mardeshwar – 9008632438 (Sidapur)
Sirsi – Raghu Rama Gangamatha – 9686909865
Jayashree – 08384 – 247561
Sharada Shet – 08384 – 268756
Siddapur – Satish Shankar Mardeshwar – 9008632438
Sharavathi H. Aslar – 9379992945
Mundgod – Hanumanthappa Hudeda Onikar - 9008813836
Dinesh Narayan Harijan – 97314225502
Krishnappa Vasu dongdekar – 9663655312
Durgappa Chinnappa – 9611971593
Kallayya Manthayya Aralihonda
Yellapur – Gopal Krishna Gowdar – 9449290551? (9447290551)
Prashanth Sabhai – 9480210916

Place: Haliyal

14.

30-12-2009 - Chikkamagaluru

15. 31-12-2009 Shimoga

District in charge: Hanumanthappa Nagi Mallepura – 9980080 (Shimoga)
Murthy N. – 9945524713 (Bhadravathi)
Manjappa H. – 9741992995 (Hosanagar)
Shimoga – Hanumanthappa Nagi Mallepura – 9980803844
Prasanna Bidire – 9008927170
Shikaripura – Dwarakeesh – 9620977016
Radhakrishna – 9980482325
Jyothi – 9591177625
Vanajakshamma
Gayathramma
Soraba – MS Panchakshari – 9019251870
Santhosh Kumar – 9986930287
Chandrashekar G – 9880595204
Pqramesh – 9611888562
Bhadravathi – Murthy N. – 9945524713
Jayanna – 9342758729
Lokesh – 9902193560
Hosanagar – Manjappa H. – 9741992995
Nagappa B – 9741969364

Places

Sagara
Thirthahalli

Vision of Jeevika

noreply@blogger.com (Suraj O) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 18:08:00 +0000

Jeevika - with a DREAM to Eradicate Bonded Labour Slavery
Involvement with Bonded Labour means working for the most marginalised section of the society in India. Bonded labourers are mostly dalits (untouchables) and adivasis (indigenous people). Vimukti Trust (VT)'s 300 or so activists are all from dalit communities.

What is Vimukti Trust-Jeevika

Vimukti Trust is a public charitable trust registered in 1996 in Bangalore. It has been carrying out a number of programmes with the aim of eradicating bonded labour in Karnataka. They are:

Implementing Bonded Labour Act and securing other rights to minimum and equal wages, work under NREGA, land, food, drinking water, housing, education, health, information and local governance (Panchayat Raj).
Stopping child labour through education
Promoting self reliance through self help group (SHG) and Government schemes
Bringing about gender justice and empowerment of women
Respecting cultural diversity, promoting dalit culture and questioning superstition and adopting rational and scientific attitude through Chennota (Vipasana).
Taking part in Panchayat Raj Institutions, making representative democracy work for the marginalised and advocating direct democracy.
Promoting holistic health, herbal medicine, awareness on HIV/AIDS and the rights of the elderly and the differently challenged.
Protecting environment and advocating natural farming.
Opposing unequal globalisation process.

Vimukti Trust seeks to secure the rights by lobbying and advocacy and consientizing and organising (unionising) along with action research and movement and alliance building.

Bonded Labour in Karnataka

noreply@blogger.com (Suraj O) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 18:06:00 +0000

Nature of Bonded Labour

Bonded labour is a way of exploiting labour of very poor persons, mainly from dalit (the untouchables) and tribal communities, by making use of their very vulnerable condition in life.
Bonded Labour system is that form of forced labour wherein, people are made to work for long hours without weekly, seasonal or even annual breaks, for very little wages, much lower than the statutory minimum wages, and without the freedom to seek employment with someone else till they have cleared their debt. Often the bondages are passed on to the next generation. Bonded labour is found very much in agricultural occupations and in other occupations in the unorganised sector like brick kilns, stone quarries, hotels, garages, silk industry, domestic work and so on. Hence dalits and tribals in villages who are landless and working as agricultural labourers are the easy victims of bonded labour system.

Bonded labour is intimately linked to caste system. Bonded labour in India is not just an economic issue or an issue of poverty but it has very much a social dimension; it is part of the caste system in India. Eradicating bonded labour strengthens the efforts in abolishing caste system or the fight against caste system to be effective must also involve fight against bonded labour. Most of the bonded labourers being dalits (and wherever tribals are found, tribals), working for bonded labour means working for the most marginalised section of the society in India.

Incidence of Bonded Labour

According to a survey conducted by National Sample Survey of India in 1992, about 6% of the agricultural labour is bonded. According to the 2001 Census (provisional), Karnataka had a total population of 52,733,958. The total number of workers among them was 23,521,533 (44.6% of total population). Of these, the agricultural labourers were 6,209,153 (26.4% of total workers). The 6% among them would be 3,72,549!

If bonded labour in other categories of work is included, then the total number of bonded labourers in Karnataka may be five lacs or more. The survey conducted by JEEVIKA in 1995 in 45 taluks had revealed 18,992 bonded labourers in agriculture. The forces of globalisation, liberalisation and privatisation seem to make the life of landless agricultural and other unorganised workers from dalit and tribal communities harder and reduce more and more of them to conditions of bondage.