> From: Sukla Sen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
> Prof. Bhaduri's work, which forms the basis of this
> note, is undoubtedly a very significant one.
> But, 'Development with Dignity' almost exclusively
> is
> concerned with development with full employment.
> And the approach is essentially "national".
> An important and bold step forward as it is, the ambit
> of the discourse has got to be expanded.
> Apart from the "class" angle, there are other
> dimensions to be factored in.
>
> I.
> The ecological crisis that is looming ahead has got to
> be categorically acknowledged. "Development" is
> turning out to be particularly destructive of
> "ecology". This has got to be addressed. We
> really
> don't know how much, and if at all any, time is left.
> Nevertheless we'd have to take an optimist position as
> our default starting point.
> The looming ecological crisis has three dimensions -
> global warming (caused by constantly escalating
> release of CO2, methane and stuff like these); global
> pollution (pollution of air, water and land - the
> release of toxic substances steeply overtaking the
> capacity of the Earth as a huge, and once considered
> infinite, sink); global depletion of natural resources
> (from the problem of "peak oil" and the likes to
> extinction of species).
> As far as global warming is concerned, one very
> unfortunate paradox is that while the "developed"
> countries or the North, mostly in the colder regions,
> act as the major driver, the immediate damage would be
> borne by the "underdeveloped"/"less
> developed"/"developing" countries being
> mostly in the
> hotter regions.
>
> "Modernity" placed its unquestioning faith in
> science
> and technology - largely, though not entirely, its own
> product.
> The experiences of the recent decades have seriously
> undermined such blind faith, even its modified version
> that with "correct" politics in command things
> would
> be hunky-dory. The "socialist" countries, in
> fact,
> turned out to be even more destructive in the mad rush
> to overtake their capitalist adversaries/challengers.
>
> This is an issue which requires immediate and serious
> attention. And the solution has got to be global.
>
> II. Developmental model(s) must also look at the issue
> of gender, race, caste etc. (The "class" angle
> is, in
> a way, already captured in the concern for full
> employment.)
> And, the very concept and practice of "democracy"
> itself.
>
> Sukla
>
> From: D Raichaudhuri
>
> Discussions with Amit Bhaduri regarding his concept of
> "Development with Dignity" led some of us to
> think
> that the
> alternative path of development he was trying to chart
> could present before the resistance movement against
> the
> current onslaught of the big corporations a current
> programme of action which would also be relevant to
> the
> greater task of social transformation. A draft of such
> a programme of action is being hereby circulated for
> discussion.
> - Meher Engineer, Rabin Chakraborty, Subhasis
> Mukherjee, Soumya Guha Thakurta and Dipanjan Rai
> Chaudhuri
> Work for all: An alternative path of development
> We start with two central questions: Development for
> whom? Who is to control
> development?
> The most pressing problem at this juncture is that of
> the great majority of Indians living in
> inhuman poverty. Their existence is marginal and they
> have no role to play in the country's
> current path of development. Their agony and latent
> anger accumulate like thunderclouds on the
> horizon. They have lost faith in the promise that the
> 'trickle down effect' will better their lot
> some day. Their experience has convinced them that the
> 'trickle' reaches only those who have
> access to influence. An alternative path of
> development is immediately called for, an alternative
> that might chart a course of freedom for the teeming
> millions from their current miserable state
> of poverty.
> If the alternative path of development is really to be
> for these teeming millions mired in poverty,
> then, to start with, everybody has to be guaranteed a
> living, which usually means employment.
> Living on wages for one's own productive work, rather
> than on doles, will not only ensure
> economic security but also lead to recognition of
> social worth. In course of time, these citizens
> will take an interest in shaping their own development
> as well as that of fellow citizens; will find
> their voice and eventually the confidence to intervene
> locally and nationally in the participatory
> political and economic democracy that India ought to
> be. This complete economic, social and
> political transformation arising from full employment
> has been termed, 'Development with
> Dignity'.
> The current model of growth without employment (West
> Bengal, in fact, exhibits negative
> growth of employment in the organised sector) under
> the leadership of big business houses
> (national and trans-national) must be summarily
> rejected. The significant characteristic of this
> model is not only its inherent antipathy towards the
> interests of the poor, but also that the growth
> of corporate profits occurs at the cost of a majority
> of the population surviving in conditions of
> poverty; in fact, these profits are extracted by
> forcing deprivation on them .
> •
> Huge Capital intensive investments, negligibly few
> incremental jobs
> Large investments, with highly automated labour saving
> technology, which require fewer but
> more highly skilled labour, significantly reduce the
> gross wage bill, with the objective of
> selling cheap in the export market and earning dollar
> profits. This is the theme of the current
> development model resulting in GDP growth without
> concomitant growth in employment.
> Take the Tata Motors plant at Singur, a flag bearer of
> this development model. It is designed
> to manufacture the Nano at Rs. 1 lakh per car, the
> competitive price being a direct
> consequence of minimising the number of employees. The
> Tata Motors plant which
> manufactures the Indica car employs 300 employees
> only. In the motor car industry, every
> job is currently backed by a worth of three-quarters
> of a crore. Had the Singur plant the same
> productivity as Bajaj Auto's plant of 2004, it would
> have employed 760 persons. For every
> job there would have been Rs 2 crores of investment.
> Actually the employment potential will
> be possibly even lower in Singur because the Tatas
> will apparently be using updated
> technology.
> After a big plant starts production, the number of
> employed hands goes down even as
> production goes up. So, productivity per employee goes
> up, this being the object of the
> reduction in the number of employed. To cite an
> example, Tata Steel, at Jamshedpur, in the
> decade since 1991, reduced its employee strength by
> half while production went up five
> times.
> Another ploy to reduce labour cost is to replace
> employees on the roll with casual
> employees. This is another attack on the working
> people. Casual employees normally work
> at lower wages, under much tougher conditions of work.
> To retain and enhance benefits and subsidies, Tata
> Motors have intermittently threatened
> withdrawal from Singur. Political and cultural
> bigwigs, camp-followers of the Tatas, have
> been crying themselves hoarse that with the exit of
> the Tatas, development will come to a
> halt in West Bengal. The reality is that although the
> quantum of investment in the Nano car
> plant and its ancillaries is huge, its employment
> generation capabilities are minimal (a few
> hundred in the main plant and a few thousand in the
> ancillaries?). Talking of long term
> development, the Tatas have been in Jamshedpur for 100
> years, and for many years in
> Orissa. Yet, Bihar (and Jharkhand) and Orissa remain
> persistently within the last three ranks
> of the poorest states of the country. That the Tatas
> in Singur have nothing to offer to the
> unemployed of the surrounding district of Hooghly and,
> in fact, to the unemployed youth of
> West Bengal is amply borne out by the fact that they
> have not sent any notices of vacancies
> to any employment exchange in the district of Hooghly.
> •
> Loot of natural resources, expropriation of
> inhabitants, destruction of livelihood
> Land-water-forest-mineral resources are being cornered
> by corporate houses with the active
> connivance of the central and state governments of all
> political colours. About 1000 acres of
> highly fertile cultivable land (significant portions
> of it yielding three crops) were gifted to
> the Tatas in Singur under the cloak of a secret
> agreement. A portion of the agreement
> released by the government of West Bengal, under
> public pressure, reveals that, a 90 year
> lease has been allowed to the Tatas at rates much
> lower than that prevailing in the market. A
> loan been advanced to the Tatas at 1% interest
> (payment to commence after 20 years) and
> tax holiday (VAT and other state taxes) has been given
> to the Tatas, all at a cost of Rs.800-
> 850 crores to the public kitty. It is indeed loot.
> Not only has the interest of the Singur landholders
> been adversely affected, the Nano project
> has impacted the sources of livelihood of another
> 10,000 persons like daily labourers,
> sharecroppers, van rickshaw pullers, vegetable vendors
> etc. The same Tata group faced
> resistance when they tried to expropriate adivasis
> from their land in Kalinganagar with the
> active connivance of the Orissa government. The
> resistance culminated in the death by
> police firing of 14 adivasi agitators. Goons in the
> pay of the Tatas have threatened to kill all
> the resistance leaders and have already killed one and
> injured another. One of the Ambani
> brothers is operating in a similar manner in Uttar
> Pradesh and another brother in
> Maharashtra.
> Soft drink manufacturers' unbridled use of groundwater
> and spread of polluting activities
> have faced resistance in Uttar Pradesh and Kerala.
> Another recent example of expropriation and loot is
> the proposed Coastal Management Zone
> Notification 2008 which intends to extend the
> tentacles of corporate led predatory growth to
> coastal India. If it evolves into an Act, national and
> transnational big capital will have access
> to the 7600 km long Indian coastline and they will
> certainly imperil the lives and livelihoods
> of more than 1 crore people from the fisher and
> fishworker families through eviction and
> destruction of coastal resources.
> Retail trade, which is a source of livelihood of at
> least a sixth of the country's population, is
> being opened to national/trans-national big capital to
> the peril of small retailers/vendors.
> Kolkata Municipal Corporation has released 150,000 sq.
> ft area in its Park Circus market to
> Reliance for retail trade whereas only 55,000 sq. ft.
> has been set aside for the existing small
> traders/vendors.
> The current national-transnational big capital
> sponsored development model does not
> improve the living conditions of the poor, enhance the
> natural resources they can command
> or develop their various sources of livelihood;
> rather, it destroys what is already there. Not
> only for the poor but also for unemployed young men
> and women, big investments by Tata
> and its ilk are meaningless –they do not generate
> employment -- it is noteworthy that no
> employment vacancy notice has been released for the
> Singur project. Big business is not
> interested in unemployed youth.
> This development model ought to be rejected outright
> .
> •
> Development with Dignity
> The desired development model must start with an
> objective of generating employment, with
> a goal of employment for all within a period of five
> years. Can a beginning be made right
> now? The spread, effectiveness and reach of the 100
> days employment per household
> programme under NREGA has faced resistance from rural
> vested interests and bureaucrats
> (in 2007-08, only 18 days work under NREGA was
> provided in West Bengal). For NREGA
> to be fully functional in West Bengal work must be
> available on demand. There are many
> pockets of inhuman poverty in urban areas too. In the
> 74
> th amendment, employment
> programmes are envisaged in urban areas -- this must
> also be implemented.
> There is no reason why this development model should
> not lead to a high rate of economic
> growth. Persons outside the production process will
> now start to produce, albeit a small
> amount per head -- but they will be many crores in
> number. So growth will continue, and,
> for a change, the distribution will be spread over
> many crores, the rich getting richer and the
> impoverishment of the poor will stop.
> Money in the hands of the poor will enable them to
> have square meals, dispense with tattered
> clothes, and, after satisfying their basic needs of
> food, clothing and shelter, go on to buy
> goods and services beyond their basic necessities.
> Purchasing power in their hands will
> therefore expand the internal market. Items of daily
> use such as knives, scissors, cycles,
> televisions, soap, cosmetics, frocks, salwars,
> trousers will be in demand and will support
> local small industries. These local initiatives will
> produce ordinary goods for local use at low
> prices.
> Such small industries have huge employment potential
> vis-a-vis large capital intensive
> industries. Whereas, in the case of big capital
> intensive industries every Rs.2 crores invested
> generates employment for one person, in the case of
> small industries every Rs.1 crore
> investment generates employment for 150 persons, on an
> average. Annually, 12 lakh
> aspirants are being added to the job market in West
> Bengal. A few hundred or even a few
> thousand jobs generated by big capital investments
> will not be of much use in absorbing this
> influx. Rather, it is improvement in agriculture and
> expansion of small industries that is
> expansion of the domestic market which will secure
> their future. This scheme of expansion
> will require engineers, science graduates, teachers,
> doctors etc. Perhaps the job options will
> not be as lucrative as in the IT industry, but there
> will be much greater security and much
> less tension, since these sectors will not show a
> person the door every time the US economy
> catches cold, as is the case in Sector V. The
> surprising, but logically compelling conclusion
> is that the futures of our young men and women are
> linked not with the Tatas but with the
> agriculturists-share croppers-agricultural labourers
> and small businessmen and their workers.
> Who will provide the seed money for employment
> generation through a NREGA-like
> programme which is the first step in this alternative
> economic model? Gradually the
> expanding domestic market and rejuvenated agriculture
> will be able to fund the expenditure.
> Till such time the expenditure will have to be
> provided in the central budget, for nothing can
> be more important today than employment generation for
> the vast majority. If the
> expenditure results in a deficit budget, so be it.
> Such deficit will not lead to inflation if this
> NREGA-like programme is oriented towards
> production of goods and services. Roads for
> transportation, irrigation canals, granaries,
> godowns and cold storages for agricultural products,
> measures for improved utilisation of
> water, forest, plantations and land will result in the
> production of goods and services side by
> side with the rise in incomes arising from the
> expenditure for the programme and there is no
> reason to fear inflation.
> On the other hand, the demand for wage goods like food
> and clothing will go up as the
> expenditure for the programme finds its way into the
> hands of the wage earners as income.
> Moreover, construction of infrastructural projects,
> towards which the thrust of NREGA is
> directed at the beginning, will increase the demand
> for materials like cement and steel. The
> food grain reserves of the government of India are
> currently hovering around the just
> adequate level (though transnational big capital has
> been allowed in this sector and the
> public procurement of food grains has slackened) and
> the cement industry is installing
> additional excess capacity. So there is no compulsion
> for price rise in the case of food grains
> and cement. However, there is no idle capacity in the
> steel industry nor an adequate reserve
> of oil seeds. None the less, these can be easily
> imported using India's current huge reserves
> of foreign exchange.
> >From whichever point of view we examine the question,
> the chances of too much money
> chasing too few goods is a remote possibility and so
> is the inflationary potential of the full
> employment programme. Now, the Fiscal Regulation and
> Budget Management Act prohibits
> the government from indulging in superfluous
> expenditure leading to a deficit budget. At
> first glance, this definitely looks good, for all of
> us are aware of and not favourably disposed
> towards superfluous expenditure by government.
> However, this IMF and World Bank
> sponsored enactment is a road block for schemes
> targeted at the marginalised and the poor,
> like the 100 days work for eligible rural households
> under NREGA.
> Curtailment of rural developmental expenditure has
> contributed to a fall in rural incomes and
> consequent decline in the per capita utilisation of
> foodgrains, malnutrition becomes a danger.
> Reduction of subsidies on inputs, higher power tariffs
> and dearer bank credit, added to a
> global fall in the export prices of most crops
> including raw cotton has led to mass- scale
> farmer suicides. This enactment must forthwith be
> scrapped if we want the government to
> finance pro-poor expansionary economics.
> •
> Development by whom? Who will implement this
> programme?
> There have been many development programmes in the
> past but none have involved the
> participation of the poor in its implementation. The
> disappointing implementation status of
> NREGA (18 instead of 100 days in W Bengal in 2007-08)
> makes it amply clear once more
> that for any development programme targeted at the
> poor to succeed, the reins of the
> programme must be in their own hands.
> If this programme is implemented through panchayats,
> then an avenue for participation of
> the target group in its implementation is immediately
> opened up. The participation can take
> the form of according one's consent or exercising veto
> to a particular proposal at the gram
> sansad. The strength of a gram sansad is on an average
> 700, which is not too large for all
> members to meet formally and take decisions. Under
> existing law, gram sansads can act in
> advisory capacity only, but a demand must be made to
> enhance/extend their power to take
> binding decisions on developmental matters pertaining
> to villages and anchals. In the 73
> rd
> amendment, list no. 11 enumerates activities earmarked
> for panchayats (namely poverty
> eradication, education, health, land reforms and the
> like), and these ought to be brought (like
> administering the village school) under the
> administrative control of the panchayats. It may
> be emphasised that the present system of dual
> administration by the state government and
> local self government bodies is in effect ineffectual,
> on the ground.
> Finance for activities earmarked for local self
> government bodies must be separately
> provided for in the state budget and it must be
> ensured that it flows directly to the
> panchayats, without any intervention. Further,
> although allocated funds get parked in the
> panchayat's account with the nearby branch of a
> nationalised bank, any withdrawal requires
> approvals from the BDO and district authorities. A
> demand must be raised for locating the
> authority for withdrawal and utilisation of the funds
> with the elected gram panchayat and not
> with state government bureaucrats.
> What about misfeasance and defalcation? On one side,
> gram sansad and any citizen must
> have the right to inspect panchayat accounts. Their
> statement of income and expenditure,
> lists of individual beneficiaries, and a progress
> report of projects must be prominently
> displayed at the panchayat office. On the other side,
> banks will monitor the panchayat's
> accounts from the point of view of utilisation of
> funds for implementation of the project and
> release further funds when financial and physical
> landmarks underlying the project are
> fulfilled. Yet, there will be some misfeasance. Does
> not that happen even now?
> •
> Achieving Local Self government is a political
> struggle
> Rural India is ruled by a nexus of feudal
> landlords-kulaks-dishonest traders-petty
> officialspolitical
> partymen. Trying to ensure that panchayats function in
> a way so as to further the
> interests of the rural poor is an invitation for a
> struggle with this nexus of vested interests on
> every issue. This nexus draws its power from the state
> and its coercive apparatus. The
> moment their authority is resisted and their interests
> affected, the state apparatus will bare its
> fangs, and perhaps the police will march hand in hand
> with arrogant political gunmen, as
> happened in Nandigram.
> So, the method of struggle will depend on the nature
> of the reaction of this nexus and the
> state. The crux of the matter is that the poor are
> today with their backs to the wall and they
> have no space to retreat. Will even the right to
> livelihood given by law be denied to them?
> No longer will this be tolerated. The right to live
> with dignity will be won by the people
> whatever be the method required.
> How to organise has been shown by the people of
> Singur-Nandigram. The Nandigram
> resistance was initially organised by peasant
> committees comprising both men and women
> drawn from the struggling people, based on their
> individual records of integrity and activity,
> and irrespective of their political colour.
> There is another lesson to be learnt from
> Singur-Nandigram. On broad issues and questions
> affecting everybody (for example on the question of
> forcible acquisition of land) the rural
> poor can unite and rally the entire rural society
> (including the richer peasants) against
> aggression by the state.
> Immediate programme
> •
> Every person who demands work must be provided with
> 100 days work under NREGA
> through gram panchayats.
> •
> Everyone must be entitled to see panchayat accounts,
> list of beneficiaries, progress report
> of projects; these details must be displayed
> prominently for public knowledge.
> •
> Gram sansad has to be empowered to take decisions
> autonomously about the
> development of villages and anchals; elected gram
> panchayats have to be liberated from
> the control of petty officials and must have financial
> autonomy
> •
> Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act is to
> be scrapped.
> •
> Immediate stoppage of the transfer of scarce land and
> other natural resources (fertile
> multi crop land as in Singur) to corporates.
> (NOTE FOR READERS:
> What has been presented above comprises some aspects
> of a road-map. Of necessity, the road-map refers
> to the target as it is today. Any other view would be
> theoretical. The target is a moving one, and, as the
> economic, social, and political situations change so
> will the road-map.
> Development is a process which is shaped by politics
> and through which politics is shaped. There are
> stages in every developmental process, and so long as
> we have too many desperately poor people this
> must be the focus and content of developmental
> politics. One should not fall into the trap of trying
> to go
> beyond this immediate focus to a model for the
> "whole"
> economy including the market for the rich and
> the export market and the roles of the corporations
> and the public sector. When we reach full
> employment following development with dignity, we will
> chalk out the next step in a changed political
> environment; until then corporations can coexist but
> without interfering adversely with this core
> developmental process. No doubt, even such containment
> of the corporations will require tremendous
> struggle.)
>
>
>
>
>
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