[ Feedback ] [ Want to become SRUTI Fellow ] [Value to your taxes ]
[ Board Members ]
Khemraj |
|---|
Profile
 |
|
Soon Khemraj was able to mobilize 20-25 volunteers to form sangathans namely “Khetihar Khan Mazdoor Sangathan” and “Mazdoor Kissan Sangathan”. In the 7-8 years of its presence the sangathan has made a stronghold in the region and managed to solve many issues related to land, MFPs, industrial pollution etc.
Khetihar Khan Mazdoor Kissan Sangathan
Khetihar Khan Mazdoor Kissan Sangathan is active in district Chittorgarh of Rajasthan. Chittorgarh is one of the oldest cities in Rajasthan, and its history goes back to early 8th century. Bappa Rawal is credited with establishing the city of Chittor. Chittrogarh is also remembered for being homeland to historical personalities of Maharaja Rana Pratap, Meera Bai, Rana Kumbha, Rana Sanga, Rani Padmini and Panna Dhai, to mention a few. It is an important tourist destination in Rajasthan.
Bhadesar, Nimbahera, Chhoti Sadri and Badi Sadri are the 4 main Blocks where the sangathan is working. The sangathan is working for the Right to food (PDS), labour and wage (NREGA, bonded labour, equal and minimum wage) and caste based atrocities are the major activities of the sangathan. The sangathan is networking with other groups like Mazdoor Kissan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), Hum Kissan, National Coordination of Democratic Forces (NCDF), People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) , Prayas, Astha etc also involved in similar fields. It participated in first joint social audit on NREGA at Dungarpur. The sangathan participates actively in solidarity meets organized by other NGOs/sangathans on common issues.
Endeavors of Sangathan –
Land rights
Wage and Labour Issues
Dalit Empowerment
Governance
Agriculture and animal husbandry are the principal source of livelihood in Rajasthan. Mining and quarrying, is another important source of employment. Annual rainfall is about 85.21 cms. thus making Chittorgarh one of the fertile districts of Rajasthan. The main rivers of the district are Chambal, Banas, Orai, Zakam and Gambhiri. The share of agricultural labourers is on the increase (7.3 percent in 1981 to 10.6 percent in 2001). Under-employment is widespread especially in the rural agriculture sector. Incidence of under-employment is relatively high in Chittorgarh. The proportion of casual labour has increased, especially in rural areas.
In Rajasthan, the mining of major and minor minerals is largely in private hands. Limestone is mostly used by private cement plants for manufacturing of cement. At the macro level over 95 percent minerals mined in Rajasthan are in the hands of the private sector. People from Chittorgarh migrate to Kota and Bhopal for 4-5 months of seasonal labour. There are 23000 Bhils as per the state’s secondary data and they are the most deprived and poor families of the state.
Work being implemented under any government scheme in sangathan’s work area is observed for disbursement of minimum and equal wages to labour engaged. Pressure is exerted by the volunteers of the sangathan over the Gram Panchayat for wage disbursement and cases are filed in court against any violation. Sangathan’s intervention in a latest case of wage irregularities during road construction by a contractor is an excellent example of ensuring minimum wages to labourers. Several villagers engaged in construction of road benefited due to the orders pronounced by the Deputy Commissioner – Labour in the case. The workers were compensated for the balance wage at the rate of Rs.73/- per day for their work whereas earlier they were being paid a meager wage of Rs.33-35/- per day. The sangathan is also perusing the cases of bonded labourers under Bonded Labour Abolition Act – 1976. Individual or family under bondage are identified and there status is confirmed by joint meetings held with the villagers. The case is then brought to the notice of the local SDM’s office for necessary action. The sangathan doesn’t only limit itself to freeing bonded labourers but, also helps them in their future livelihood opportunities. The sangathan also supports the freed bonded labour financially, for initial 2-3 months by raising money and grain from volunteers and sympathizers associated with the sangathan.
Dalit Empowerment
Chittorgarh is one of the poorest districts of Rajasthan and hosts a large number of communities.About 11% belong to the tribal population consisting of Bhils, Meenas, Kalbelia, Raigar, Bangari, Bawri and Kanjar etc. while 29-30% are Dalits and about 60% are other communities like Jats, Rajputs, Gujjars, Ahir, Dhakad, Patidar etc. Total rural population of all 4 blocks where the sangathan is working is around 5.2 lakhs and Nimbahera is the most densely populated Block in comparison to other 3. Majority of ST population is located in Chhoti Sadri. Nearly 33% of the total of 16% tribal population in all 4 blocks. Dalits constitute nearly 14% of the total population in 4 blocks. Badhesar hosts the highest no. of Dalits among all the 4 Blocks.
The district is a stronghold of the BJP and both MLA, Nagpal Singh Rajvi (son-in-law of Bhairav Singh Shekhawat) and MP, Sri Chand Kirpliani belong to the same. Bajrang Dal and RSS, which are the main fanatic wings, enjoy the patronage of the ruling BJP government. Although Christian Missionaries and Tabligi Jamat also have some presence but their proselytizing impact is almost negligible in the overall socio-religious scenario of the district. Inter caste and Intra Caste discrimination is rampant. The caste and religious discrimination is nurturing social evils like child marriage, Parda Pratha etc. The state machinery is totally silent towards the prevalent social evils due to lack of political will and the efforts are only limited to Information Education and Communication (IEC) activities. Local newspapers are effectively being used for printing news of religious congregations and events that are on rise daily.
Caste discrimination is rampant in Rajasthan. Dalits are the worst sufferers of the lot and the situation for them is the same in Sangathan’s work area also. The economic dependence of dalits on the upper caste and limited access to any kind of livelihood resources is one of the major causes for large scale discrimination. The sangathan has been addressing these issues through various activities. “Khaat Andolan” (charpoy campaign) was organised by the sangathan to defy the caste based servitude in the villages that were witnessing worst form of caste discrimination.
Dalits sat on their cots on roads and villages to protest against the age old practice of them not being allowed to sit on any kind of raised platform, in the form of chair or cots during the presence of any upper caste villagers. The campaign has resulted in snaping off atrocious relationship between the Swarna (upper caste) and Dalits (lower caste) in couple of villages. Similarly, a national solidarity meet was organised against Dalit atrocity in village Biladi. Few dalit houses were demolished and their land was encroached for construction of a village road.
The core group of the sangathan does the assessment of the atrocities and a collective decision about the future action is taken by the volunteers mainly from Dalit community. Empowerment of dalits of the area is visible during the current scenarios of their hiring of musical bands during marriage and festivities and the Dalit bridegrooms riding horses during during their marriage processions (a practice which was essentially limited to the upper castes at one time) and participation in decision making process during Gram Sabhas.
Land rights
The class-size distribution of landholdings in Rajasthan is highly skewed: 50 percent of total numbers of landholdings are marginal or small, measuring less than two hectares in size. These cover only 10 percent of total area under cultivation. The poor quality of land and the scarcity of water resources for irrigation are additional constraints even for holdings that are larger in size. Thus inequality in land holdings is compounded by ecological fragility. Low productivity of agriculture and the dimensions of ecological risk make food security and subsistence the primary concern of farmers.
The sangathan is working towards rectifying the irregularities in entitlement and encroachment. Several Dalit and tribal families have land entitlement (patta) for the land distributed to them under land ceiling act. But, the possession of land is still with an upper caste villager. Similarly, the land being tilled by the poor families for more than last 20-30 years but they do not have Pattas (entitlement) for that land. All such cases are first identified, and pursued accordingly. Informal notices are issued on Sangathan’s letter head and the encroacher is persuaded to give up the claim. In most of the cases the encroacher gives up under the pressure of the sangathan but in case of any resistance from the encroachers, help from proper legal authorities such as Tehsildar’s office (revenue department) is sought.
Governance
The core group of the sangathan works closely with village level committees for monitoring and the effective implementation of various state and central government welfare schemes like mid-day meal, PDS, NREGA etc. The village committees are mobilizing parents and pressuring the Block and District Education Department for improvement of quality and facilities in primary schools. Pupil attendance, pupil-teacher ratio, mid-day meal, infrastructure etc. are the issues being dealt in the field of primary education. The sangathan is one of the leading members of state level CBOs network for implementation of the NREGA. The core team was also associated with the social audit campaign in Dungarpur. It was organized by a collective network of organizations namely MKSS, Hum Kissan, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Prayas, Astha, Vagad Mazdoor Kissan Sangathan etc. The audit was conducted in 140 villages in Southern Rajasthan.
The sangathan is one of the people’s organizations in the state that is actively working for streamlining of Public Distribution System (PDS). The sangathan highlighted the irregularities in identification of below poverty line (BPL) beneficiaries by holding a survey in 60-70 villages. The survey report was shared with the villagers through a Pad-Yatra (foot-march).
It was also shared with the Govt.Secretary at Jaipur. Professor Ashok Khandelwal was invited by the Secretary to assess the gravity of the situation. Findings of Prof. Ashok Khandelwal resulted in visit of State Food Commissioner for verification. The sangathan finally managed to get a Government Order for resurvey of the villages. This helped in enlisting of beneficiaries that were de-listed in the previous survey. Presence of the Sangathan and its non tiring work on the issues related to effective governance has lead to the empowerment of villagers, including the marginalized communities. The contractors, members of Panchayat bodies and government employees are implementing various schemes with minimum corrupt practices.
