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The Hindu - May 25, 2005
Employment guarantee rally reaches Madhya Pradesh
Meena Menon
`Guaranteeing rural employment can make a major difference to
migration' ``The situation in various parts of India is that even in
the peak agricultural season there is no work. There is very little
employment in the rural areas.''
INDORE: Kishanlal Morparia came to Indore when he was three. His
parents left their home near Jodhpur in Rajasthan looking for work.
Now at 59, Morparia works for daily wages and that too, on an
irregular basis. He has only vaguely heard of the Employment
Guarantee Bill but agrees that there should be some guarantee of work
not only in the villages but also in cities.
Street-corner meeting
At a street-corner meeting held on Tuesday by the Mazdoor Kisan
Shakti Sanghatan (MKSS) in Suryodaya Nagar in Indore, activists
explain that they are part of a `Rozgar Adhikar Yatra' (Employment
Guarantee March). While songs are sung and slogans are shouted, Har
haath ko kaam do, Kam ka pura daam do (Give work to everyone and pay
them just wages), a crowd consisting of mostly children, gleefully
raise their hands in support.
The yatra was flagged off in New Delhi on May 13, and has travelled
through Rajasthan and is now passing through Madhya Pradesh.
According to economist Jean Dreze, a member of the National Advisory
Council (NAC), who is among those taking part in the march, ``The
situation in various parts of India is that even in the peak
agricultural season there is no work. In the last ten days we have
passed through twelve districts and the issues are of a serious
nature. There is very little employment in the rural areas.''
However, things are not much better in cities. Indore, with a
population of about 20 lakhs, has about 250 slums, according to
official records, while a survey by a voluntary organisation, Din
Bandhu Samajik Sanstha, puts the figure at 434. Anand Lakhan of the
Sanstha told The Hindu that ``nearly 65 per cent of the population
lives in slums and the majority are from Maharashtra. They are mostly
landless people migrating in search of work. There is seasonal
migration too, specially from the Adivasi-dominated Jhabua
district.'' Guaranteeing rural employment could make a major
difference to migration, he said.
Evictions resented
About six km away from Indore, at Sneh Nagar, there is anger and
resentment among people who have recently been evicted from the city.
The land they lived on has been sold to a private builder and they
have been given alternative land on the outskirts. The entire
settlement of migrants from various parts of Madhya Pradesh had lived
in the city for nearly 30 years. ``Now we have nothing, there is no
water, we cannot bathe or eat and we get no work,'' laments Kantaben,
who hails from Dhar district.
Here too the Rozgar Adhikar Yatra explains the need for the right to work.
Kaluram Solanki, who was disgusted with the Government's act of
dumping them in a remote place without any facilities, says that
there is no work since 15 days and they have to pay Rs. 10, a
princely sum, to get to the city to look for daily wages.
Near the slum is a construction site, which attracts seasonal
migrants. Bansingh comes every year from Jhabua district looking for
work.
``I don't get work in my village for most of the year,'' he says.
Like most cities, Indore tells a story of what migration and
insecurity of housing and work can do to people.
In Suryodaya Nagar, people who left their homes generations ago, now
face the reality of urban unemployment. Parvati Morparia's son Ashok
who is a postgraduate is jobless. As Mr. Lakhan says: ``Labourers are
on the increase while work is declining.''
In this context, the Rozgar Adhikar Yatra assumes great significance
in launching a nationwide campaign for rural employment. .''
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