[Reader-list] No rehabilitation of property-less Tsunami-affected people

[Clifton]

Hi,

The Tamil Nadu government has announced a series of government orders 
for the rehabilitaion of tsunami-affected families. Sadly these only 
cover those families who owned anything prior to the tsunami. Thus boats 
will be replaced along with nets and salinated agricultural lands will 
be desalinated. However the labourer in the fishing industry and the 
landless agricultural labourers have received no attention whatsoever. 
So from the looks of things the livelihood rehabilitation policy, being 
property-owner specific, seeks only to restore the heirarchial and 
oppresive social system in which the dalits are at the lower ends.

This is a note that we have written and circulated with the hope that 
pressure could be built on the government to announce a livelihood 
rehabilitaion package for the property-less.

regards
uvaraj, niruj, arvind, revathi, nitin, deepu and clifton

-------------------


  /Exclusion of Dalits and Adivasis in the time of Tsunami: The case for
  an inclusive relief and rehabilitation policy /


  /Introduction/


  Close to a month after the devastating tsunami struck the coastal
  districts of Andhra, Pondicherry, Kerala and particularly Tamil Nadu,
  there is an urgent need to evaluate the nature of relief and
  rehabilitation. Is relief and rehabilitation moving smoothly ensuring
  succour and restoring some degree of normalcy to all those who were so
  tragically affected?

Initial assessments particularly by the media seem to be gung ho about 
how well the relief and rehabilitation process is going. Shashi Kumar in 
fact argues that, ‘if Tamil Nadu sustains the momentum of its relief and 
rehabilitation programme , the state can lay claim to the first success 
story in disaster management.^^1 <#sdfootnote1sym> There is evidence to 
support this upbeat assessment, particularly the swift process by which 
the Tamil Nadu government has moved to ensure interim compensation, 
distribution of relief, reopening of schools and other measures to 
reintroduce a measure of normalcy for which the Tamil Nadu government 
deserves credit.

However the greatest blindspot of all agencies right from the Central 
Government to the State Government to the various NGO’s both national 
and international to academic scholars, is the unwillingness to take on 
board the fundamental reality of Indian society, caste discrimination 
and how it plays out in relief and rehabilitation to ensure that Dalits 
and Adivasis are completely marginalized in these processes.


/The caste realities of the coastal districts /

There is no doubt that the community most severely affected by the 
tsunami is the fishing community. However it would be irresponsible to 
assume that all those who form a part of the fishing operations belong 
to one caste. The fishing community can broadly be understood as 
composing of three main caste categories – Meenavar Community (Most 
Backward Caste), Dalits (Scheduled Caste) and Pazhankudi Makkal 
(Scheduled Tribes), who live in a hierarchical relationship Though these 
communities might be living in the same village, there is complete 
segregation between the communities.

While the Meenavar community is the one which takes the boats out to sea 
the remaining jobs listed below are done by the Dalits and Pazhankudi 
communities. The other occupations which minimally form a part of the 
economy of the fishing village are occupations such as: Manual labourers 
lifting the catch from sea on to the boat itself, lifting the catch on 
to the shore and sorting it, truck drivers who transport the fish to 
different regions for export, places of sale, etc., people selling fish 
on the shore using big baskets /on cycles, those who repair/paint boats 
etc, those who do the inland fishing, prawn farm labourers, labourers 
part of the fish packing activities, those involved in construction, 
basket making etc.

Equally important to the very subsistence of the fishing village are the 
agricultural operations which are carried out in the immediate 
hinterland of the fishing area. These include groups such as: Those 
owning and cultivating land, share croppers on the land, tenants on the 
land, landless agricultural labourers, those who take lands on lease, etc.

Apart from both these categories of people affected are also those who 
provide the commercial backbone to the village economy including 
petty-shop owners and other service providers like barbers, tailors, 
cobblers etc. There are also the labourers on the other industries like 
salt pans in Vedaranyam. The extent of havoc the tsunami has wreaked has 
had its impact on this diverse range of people*. *

In terms of loss of life, houses and livelihood it is very clear that 
the fishing community has suffered the most, while the agricultural 
community has mainly suffered loss of livelihood. The losses suffered by 
these communities in terms of life and houses have been addressed to 
some extent in various state government orders extending compensation. 
However, the crucial issue of rehabilitation of livelihood of those who 
own nothing, but their labour power ( be it labour with respect to 
fishing or agriculture) has been completely ignored.

/Is relief caste blind? /

The immediate aftermath of the tsunami witnessed a pouring in of relief 
on a massive scale. There were truly inspirational acts of solidarity by 
ordinary people who reached out to a people in enormous distress. 
However side by side, with these gestures of humanity continued the 
ritualistic practice of caste discrimination to exclude Dalits from 
relief. This reality has been documented with great care and sensitivity 
by Dalit and human rights groups.

In a Report which came out as early as 1.1.05, Annie Namala on behalf of 
the Fact Finding team,* *noted: ‘As we watched, trucks of food and 
clothing came to the village and were getting distributed among the 
fisher community. The Dalits who ran after the lorries came back empty 
handed. They further complained that since morning three-four trucks had 
come to the village and the fisher community did not allow any of them 
to give any relief to the Dalits. The standard question was- how many 
deaths are there among you? Some people had brought idli and pongal in 
the morning, but though it was already past 11a.m., no one in the Dalit 
colony, not even the children, had anything to eat.’^^2 
<#sdfootnote2sym> As the Report poignantly notes, ‘Can one erect a 
hierarchy of deaths where death in the fisher family is more costly to 
the family than a death in the Dalit family or can we grade the dead 
like we grade the living, along caste lines?^^3 <#sdfootnote3sym>

A report from Cuddalore documents how this discrimination is as 
systematic as it is petty. ‘One social worker showed me a list of 
affected people and damages sustained by them from Samiarpettai- another 
large village with several communities. This list was made on the 
letterhead of the fisher panchayat. The list mentions not one name of 
people from other communities. When asked about it, they said, when 
relief comes they will distribute to them what is due to them’^^4 
<#sdfootnote4sym>

The Citizens Platform for Tsunami Affected, Tamil Nadu, noted, ‘However 
what is emerging as a pattern across many of the affected coastal 
regions is the fact that Dalit communities are not being provided relief 
material. Even when the material (dry rations, clothes, utensils, etc.) 
are supplied to the affected villages, they are not shared with the 
dalit families within the village. In some cases these families do not 
even have the tokens issued by the Panchayat to access relief material. 
In other cases, though there might be a token given they are not allowed 
to stand in the queue to collect relief material, which is their right. 
Not only does these cause hardships leading to starvation of the 
affected dalit families but also creates the basis for avoidable caste 
based hostilities to be generated.’^^5 <#sdfootnote5sym>

That the Dalit community and also the Pazhankudi Makkal community have 
been on the margins of receiving relief is an issue that has been 
accepted by most of the groups overseeing relief distribution in the 
Nagapattinam district. The media has also highlighted this issue to a 
great extent.^^6 <#sdfootnote6sym> The Dalit groups working in the area 
have identified Dalit villages and hamlets that have not yet been 
enumerated as tsunami-affected. A handful of these villages have been 
subsequently included in existing processes to ensure that relief 
reaches the Dalit communities as soon as possible.

Thus while the Government has officially declared the stage of immediate 
relief as being over, even today, newer and newer hamlets/villages which 
have been left out of the relief process continue to be identified by 
Dalit groups such as HRFDL and efforts are on to reach relief to those 
excluded communities.

/The caste and class question in rehabilitation /

The government in its orders (GOs) has till now adopted a property-owner 
centric policy while addressing livelihood issues in its rehabilitation 
packages and till now has only recognized those who own boats and go out 
to sea as well as those who own and operate small shops in the 
villages.^^7 <#sdfootnote7sym>

In terms of the farming community that owns the agricultural lands that 
were inundated by seawaters, surveys were carried out by the revenue 
departments of various districts to assess the extent of inundation and 
the degree of salination. Post this a GO was issued to provide relief to 
farmers who have lost standing crops.^^8 <#sdfootnote8sym>

Be that as it may, it is undeniable that in any formulation of 
rehabilitation packages for livelihoods the people of the fishing and 
farming communities that do not own boats, nets or lands generally 
remain ignored. Equally wherever there have been joint Government/NGO 
efforts at relief and rehabilitation, even in the various committees 
formed like livelihood committee, child committee, there is no inclusion 
of affected Dalit/Adivasi hamlets and hence Dalit/Adivasi children are 
totally left out of the very conceptualization of the rehabilitation 
process.

What the various GO’s do not recognize is that the coastal districts 
like every other part of India are structured hierarchically in terms of 
caste and class. Those at the bottom of the caste and class hierarchy 
are the worst placed to cope with and survive a natural disaster.

The next series of questions which follows in the search for an 
inclusive relief and rehabilitation face is how does one take on board 
this diverse range of occupations all of which are structurally 
dependent upon the fishermen - who actually go out to the sea and land 
owners - who have cultivable land?

Does rehabilitation mean that one restores to the previous level all 
those who have lost resources and leave those who were socially and 
economically disadvantaged where they were, i.e. at the bottom of the 
hierarchy? Or does the policy try and address questions of 
socio-economic marginalization? Should one resign to saying that this is 
not the time for ‘social change’? Or should the intention of the 
rehabilitation policy be to address the social and economic 
discrimination of Dalits and think of creating resources for those who 
never owned any property ?

If one merely tried restoring the status quo, would there be a return to 
status quo or would the hierarchical relationship be more skewed with 
those who don’t own resources being even more economically marginalized? 
How would this affect the relationship between those with resources and 
those without in a post-tsunami rehabilitation scenario?

These are all complex questions meriting a detailed analysis and a clear 
articulation of policy. What is of grave concern is that these questions 
of livelihoods of those who are also affected by the tsunami, and do 
also form a part of the fishing community, has not yet been mentioned in 
any governmental policy. Even in the NGO sector the focus has been on 
the property owning fishing communities. What is clear is that those who 
own no property and are merely dependent on those who do own property 
merit no attention in rehabilitation efforts.

/Existing relief and rehabilitation policy frameworks/

While Tamil Nadu by itself does not yet have a relief code, other states 
like Orissa, Rajasthan have a relief code in place and Maharashtra has a 
disaster management plan However, analysis of the working of these codes 
seems to reveal that apart from Maharashtra to some minimal extent^^9 
<#sdfootnote9sym> , * *the Governments thus far have not seriously taken 
on board the concerns of Dalit/Adivasi communities.^^10 <#sdfootnote10sym>

As Sana Das’s analysis of the Orissa Relief Code reveals, there are in 
essence two obstacles to the Dalit and Adivasi communities being an 
integral part of relief and rehabilitation

   1.

      They do not own property and hence are unable to make a legal claim

   2.

      The political economy context of caste based discrimination
      ensures that access remains limited.

The ownership over means of production determines one’s command over 
food and other essential commodities. Those social groups which don’t 
own any means of production consequently are at greater risk of food 
scarcity/ starvation. If the rehabilitation policy focuses on replacing 
the means of production which have been lost and does not take into 
account the needs of those who do not own property , the consequences 
for those without property can be deadly. As Sana Das notes , ‘ On the 
contrary, if labour is the only endowment that one possesses, in a 
disaster situation, if there is no provision for employment where the 
individual can exchange it for food, then such vulnerability may even 
lead to succumbing. It may lead to distress sale of labour or even the 
final exchange i.e., of self, which is the most exploitative exchange, 
violating Art 23 which is the fundamental right against exploitation and 
also laws on immoral trafficking.’^^11 <#sdfootnote11sym>

Similarly the study brings to the fore the problem of channeling 
relief/rehabilitation purely through the caste panchayats. There emerge 
a pattern of discrimination and exclusion of Dalit/Adivasi communities 
from even the most basic relief. Relief and rehabilitation ends up 
benefiting the more powerful social groups and the Dalit and Adivasi 
communities end up in a worse situation post disaster.

Thus it is clear that both caste and class factors have played a major 
role in ensuring that both relief and rehabilitation remain an 
inequitable process in past disasters and Government policy has till now 
been inadequate to take on board the learnings from the past to build a 
more equitable and inclusive policy.


    Towards an inclusive policy on relief and rehabilitation

Any relief and rehabilitation policy framed by the State will have to be 
based on respecting the constitutional framework. This means that key to 
the policy will have to be solicitude to the weaker sections of Indian 
society including the SC and ST communities

( Dalit and Adivasi).

The framework of the Indian constitution obligates the Indian state to 
abide by the rights guaranteed in the Fundamental Rights Chapter to all 
citizens and to take seriously the Directive Principles of State Policy 
as being fundamental to the governance of the country.

With respect to Fundamental Rights the state is enjoined to respect 
among others the right to equality (Art 14), the right to non 
discrimination on grounds of caste as well as the right to affirmative 
action ( Art 15 (1) and Art 15(4) respectively) and the right to life 
(Art 21). The Indian Constitution envisages a notion of substantive 
equality which includes a scheme for compensatory action in the form of 
affirmative action for all those who have historically been oppressed by 
the caste based hierarchy of Indian society. Thus equality in the Indian 
Constitutional scheme does not just mean treating those of a similar 
grouping similarly but actually means that a form of compensatory action 
is envisaged for those who have historically suffered discrimination, 
particularly the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The right to 
life has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to include many basic 
rights including the right to a clean environment, right to health etc. 
Needless to say these rights too must be implemented keeping in mind the 
injunction of Art 14 and Art 15.

The Directive Principles such as Art 41 clearly note that the 
responsibility of the state to secure public assistance in cases of 
undeserved want. Under Art 39(a) the state has the responsibility to 
secure the right to livelihood to all its citizens. Under Art 47 of the 
Directive Principles, the state has the obligation as one of its primary 
duties, to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living of 
its people and the improvement of public health.

In the context of a disaster, when a situation of ‘undeserved want’ 
arises the state’s obligation to provide public assistance to secure the 
basic rights guaranteed under the Constitution is undisputed. However 
what is often not taken on board as a matter of state administrative 
practise/law is that the very provision of relief and the beginning of 
rehabilitation programes which are aimed at securing the right to 
livelihood, the right to work, the right to health, the right to 
education and the right to life, * *must take into account the 
Constitutional injunction embodied in Art 14 read with Art 15 and 
provide in particular for the SC/ST communities. If the Constitution is 
indeed the guiding post they cannot face a shortfall merely on grounds 
of belonging to certain communities. In fact the Constitution in Art 17, 
goes one step further and notes that untouchability is an offence and 
the practise of which is to be punished in accordance with law. Thus the 
Constitutional imagination is not to silently acquiesce in existing 
caste hierarchies but instead to proactively challenge the existing 
inequitable social order.

Thus the relief and rehabilitation policy will have to be inclusive as 
well as make special provisions for those at the very bottom of the 
socio-economic hierarchy. The policy as currently operational in the 
Tamil Nadu GO’s^^12 <#sdfootnote12sym> and the Union Government Relief 
and Rehabilitation Package^^13 <#sdfootnote13sym> , will have to move 
from a shocking disregard for affected Dalit and Adivasi communities to 
taking on board their concerns and articulating it* *through clear 
policy statements. If the Government does indeed move to implement its 
Constitutional mandate, the following points will have to be 
specifically considered. It has to be noted that these points are not 
inclusive but merely indicative of the directions the policy might take.

    *

      Most importantly, ensure food security

    *

      Implementation of a food for work programme for all affected
      communities as described above

    *

      Provision of gratuitous relief for all those unable to participate
      in the food for work scheme for various reasons like old age and
      disability.

    *

      Land – based rehabilitation of landless Dalit agricultural labourers.

    *

      Training and creation of employment opportunities for affected
      Dalit/Adivasi people

    *

      Creation of assets which can be used to generate livelihood options

    *

      Specification of a Minimum Wage for all the affected Dalit/Adivasi
      communities to prevent their exploitation.

    *

      Formation of an inclusive village level committee which includes
      members from affected Dalit/Adivasi communities to plan the
      rehabilitation efforts

    *

      SC/ST Commission to monitor that the policy is indeed inclusive by
      appointing Community members to regularly report on the
      implementation of relief and rehabilitation measures in an
      inclusive fashion.

    *

      Considering that Dalit/Adivasi children form a particularly
      vulnerable category special efforts are needed to ensure that they
      are not discriminated against at least for the present in such
      places which are meant for bringing them back to leading a normal
      life like the schools, for instance.^^14 <#sdfootnote14sym> In the
      alternative, separate spaces should be created for them so that
      they can also work their way back to normalcy just as the higher
      caste children are in a position to do.

1 <#sdfootnote1anc> V.K. Shashikumar, Damning the way of destruction, , 
22.01.05, Tehelka)

2 <#sdfootnote2anc> The team consisted of representatives of National 
Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) , Human Rights Forum for Dalit 
Liberation (HRFDL), Dappu and Safai Karmachari Andolan.

3 <#sdfootnote3anc> Ibid.

4 <#sdfootnote4anc> Email sent by Nityanand Jayaraman an activist 
working in Cuddalore on file with the authors.

5 <#sdfootnote5anc> Letter sent to the Officer on Special Duty, (Relief 
and Rehab) In-charge of NGO and Donor coordination,Tamil Nadu by the 
Citizens Platform for Tsunami Affected, Tamil Nadu, dated 10.1.2005.

6 <#sdfootnote6anc> Tsunami can’t wash this away: Hatred for Dalits’ , 
Indian Express, 7.01.2005. Also see ‘Tribal outsiders count tsunami 
cost’, news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4175131.stm - 44k - 21 Jan 2005

7 <#sdfootnote7anc> See Tamil Nadu G.O. Ms. Nos 574 dated 28.12.2004, 
576 dated 28.12.2004, 10dated 6.1.2005 etc.

8 <#sdfootnote8anc> See G.O. Ms No. 30 dated 17.01.2005.

9 <#sdfootnote9anc> The Maharashtra Disaster Management Plan discusses 
landless labourers and provides that if they have lost their tools of 
work, the government will replace them.

10 <#sdfootnote10anc> See Sana Das, A study on Coastal Area Calamities 
and Vulnerable People’s Entitlements; A critique of the Orissa Relief 
Code, Sana Das, A critique of Famine Codes in India: A study of the 
Rajasthan Famine Code and Vulnerable People’s Entitlements.

11 <#sdfootnote11anc> /Ibid. /

12 <#sdfootnote12anc> See G.O. Ms. Nos. , 574 dated 28.12.2004, 575 
dated 28.12.2005 , 8 dated 5.1.2005, 10dated 6.1.2005.

13 <#sdfootnote13anc> ‘The Union Cabinet approved a Rs 2731 crore relief 
and rehabilitation package for the victims of the tsunami in Tamil Nadu, 
Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Pondicherry. Under this package announced, Rs 
1093 crores has been allocated to help fishermen return to work by 
providing them with boats, nets, and other equipment: Rs 861.82 crores 
for provision of foodgrains and other material; Rs752.3 crores for 
construction of houses; and Rs 23.21 crores for repair of fishing 
harbours and fish landing places.’ See Jan 19, 2005, The Hindu

14 <#sdfootnote14anc> Very recent experience in Nagapattinam in relation 
to efforts by some external volunteers to get the children belonging to 
a nomadic Adivasi group called the Mattukkaran enrolled in a Govt. aided 
school in MGR Nagar near the town suggests that even the students 
belonging to the second and third class practise discrimination against 
these children