Nobel for Class Peace

Professor Yunus' project of microcredit to poor women's groups without conventional collateral is well-known.   Conceptually, what he seeks to popularise is "social-consciousness-driven entrepreneurs" and "home-based production by the self-employed masses" as the best available means for poverty alleviation.  On the face of it, the achievements of his GB would appear quite impressive. The Bank has over six million members, 96 per cent of them women. It lends to nearly a million micro-enterprises in the face of strong opposition from the fundamentalists who believe the bank is anti-Islamic. Arguably, this might have contributed, in some measure, to Bangladesh's progress on the human development front (as per the UNDP's Human Development Report 2005, Bangladesh  is now ahead of India in health, education, and gender equality). According to the 2005 State of the Microcredit Summit Campaign Report, 92 million families worldwide accessed microcredit by the end of 2004, including in countries like the USA and France. Of these, 73 per cent were extremely poor at the time of their first loan.

Having appreciated all this, one should also be mindful of the serious limitations of this ' model'. One frequent criticism is that the GB charges too much interest – initially 16 per cent and for the last four years 20 per cent.   Studies of microcredit programs have found that Grameen's  high repayment rate does not reflect the number of women who are repeat borrowers, and have become dependent on loans for household expenditures rather than capital investments. Moreover, women often act merely as collection agents for their husbands and sons, such that the men spend the money themselves while women are saddled with the credit risk. According to a recent survey conducted by Anne Marie Goetz and Rina Sen Gupta, after 8 years of borrowing, 55% of Grameen households are still not able to meet their basic nutritional needs; so many women are using their loans to buy food rather than invest in business. As regards its overall impact on the rural economy, Grameen loans to women have remained a mere 5% of the total amount lent in the Bangladeshi countryside since the 1980s. No wonder, then, that the Vanderbilt-educated economist was rewarded not for any theoretical or practical contribution to bourgeois economics — call it development economics or whatever — but for his strategy of poverty alleviation without disturbing the existing property relations in the slightest way.  

To look beyond the specifics of the Bangladesh project, the microcredit concept as such has been criticised as a privatization of public safety-net programs which allows governments to go in for cuts in public health, welfare, and education spending.   In other words, such initiatives pave the way for selective 'retreat' of the State — retreat from social responsibilities coupled with growing intervention in the promotion of the liberalisation agenda.

No one should grudge Professor Yunus the honour of being an innovator and a man with a mission.   His 1998 tie-up with Monsanto, which he cancelled rather quickly in the face of well-grounded criticism, remains a grim pointer to the pitfalls a well-meaning but ideologically disoriented individual or institution is prone to fall into, but even that may perhaps be condoned as an aberration.   The more important point is that his mission can pass from the realm of illusion to that of reality only when his concept of "collective responsibility" in matters of entrepreneurship and loan repayment is matched with and placed on a firm foundation of collective ownership of land and other means of production.   Till then, all such poverty alleviation programmes will be sponsored, encouraged and utilised by the ruling classes as a means for keeping the downtrodden away from the path of revolt and thereby perpetuating the structures of exploitation and domination.

Party's Campaign in Koderma By-Election

Koderma Parliamentary by-election in Jharkhand is attracting people's attraction as CPI(ML)'s candidate Rajkumar Yadav is pitted against the candidates of various ruling class alliances and parties whose opportunist politics backed by money and mafia is not a secret in a state which has witnessed bloodshed of poor people at places like Doranda, Tapakara, Markachcho and Ghanghari, during last five years and massive horse-trading of MLAs by the parties in NDA and UPA both who want power at any cost only to pave the way to continue the unrestricted loot by feudal-mafia-politician nexus and by big corporate houses who are coming in the newly constituted majority tribal state rich with natural resources through various MoUs and SEZ projects.
This is the constituency where Comrade Mahendra Singh embraced martyrdom. Main accused of his murder are still being protected by the state irrespective of change in the government. CPI(ML)'s election campaign is centered around increasing state repression, corruption, loot of public money and developmental funds, sorry plight of peasants and rural proletariat, rising unemployment among youth, and betrayal of the Jharkhandi people by the governments. While the BJP-led NDA rule imposed more hardships on the hardworking and toiling masses, the Congress's opportunism is evident in installing new government where it showed no hesitation in forming a ministry headed by a known RSS man with ministers and MLAs of RSS and NDA background. As far as Koderma by-elections are concerned candidates from ruling class alliances, NDA, UPA and Babulal Marandi - under whose Chief Ministership Jharkhand witnessed maximum bloodshed and oppression of tribals and minorities - are though contesting each other but a tacit understanding among them is apparent against the CPI(ML) candidate and the issues being raised through this election campaign. On the other hand, large number of poor peasants, workers, youth, women, and other sections of society aspiring for establishing a genuine democracy and an end to the rule of corrupt and criminalised regime are gathering around CPI(ML). Be it BJP who borrowed its candidate from JMM, or Marandi, the BJP Chief Minister-turned 'secular' while continuing to be a hard-core RSS man, or Congress - it is the CPI(ML) who is placed and determined to give them befitting blow in this electoral battle also. Accordingly, it has sought support from CPI, CPI(M) and other left parties and urged upon all left-democratic-secular forces to join hands with CPI(ML) shedding all sorts of illusions about Congress or Marandi.

Mass Hunger Strike in Lucknow

50-hour hunger strike organised to condemn starvation deaths and peasants suicides concluded on 11 October in front of UP Vidhan Sabha. Thousands of people led by UP State Secretary Akhilendra Pratap Singh condemned Mulayam Singh Govt.'s demagoguery of 'Uttam Pradesh' and demanded to put a halt on increasing state repression, control over fast spreading encephalitis and malaria epidemics, BPL cards, NREGA implementation, waiver of peasants' loans, and withdrawal of all cases imposed on CPI(ML) leaders and activists. Many leaders of political parties and democratic organisations including CPI State Secretary Vishwanath Shastri, Indian Justice Party's Udit Raj, NCP State President Ramesh Dixit, All India Muslim Forum's National President and PDF General Secretary Nihaluddin, Jan Morcha's Brajendra Pratap Singh and Vandana Mishra, Ex-minister and MLA Kaushal Kishore, Republican Party of India's SR Darapuri, BKU (Ambabat)'s Rakesh Singh, Forward Bloc State President Ram Kishore, employees' leader Ajay Singh, Co-ordination of Mass Organisations's Sandip Pandey, State President of Kisan Sabha Imtiaz, Prof. DM Diwakar of Giri Institute, Tahrique-e-Niswan's Tahira Hasan, People's Union for Human Rights' Krishnavatar Pandey, Jan Sanskriti Manch's Ajay Singh and ex-Vice Chancellor of Lucknow University Rooprekha Verma came to the venue to express their solidarity.
The hunger strikers passed several resolutions that included strong condemnation of imposition of criminal cases on CPI(ML) activists, withdrawal of all cases, punishment to police and administrative officers who ordered third degree torture of AIALA and RYA leader Rakesh Singh in Sitapur and ordered a ban on political activities of Comrade Brij Behari. Mulayam Singh Govt. has increased its attacks on movements against starvation deaths, suicides and other people's issues and recently organised police attacks were conducted on peaceful demonstrators in Sitapur, Pilibhit and Ambedkarnagar. Comrade Krishna Adhikari and 138 other activists were jailed in Pilibhit for demanding Antyodaya Cards to all poor families. Proper arrangement and medicines for encephalitides and malaria victims was demanded in another resolution.
It was demanded to issue red ration cards to all poor in the state as a measure to contain rising number of starvation deaths and suicides and to provide food-grain at the rate of Rs. 2 per kg. and kerosine at Rs. 2 per litre. Action against those involved in the plunder of PDS foodgrains and scams was also demanded.
The acquisition of agricultural lands for the SEZs should be stopped and waiver of peasants' loans and availability of tax-free diesel be endured was demanded in another resolution. The hunger strikers opposed any governmental attempt to forcibly evict villagers from their own lands for the SEZ projects.
The question of reservation of most backward castes, tribals and backward muslims was also raised and resolution of these issues demanded to ensure social justice. There are many castes in UP like Kol, Rajbhar, Biyar and Musahar and Namosudra, Pond, Manjhi, etc. from Bangla speaking community which are left out of the schedule. The demand for their inclusion is continuously been raised for the last many years. The politically motivated communal riots in Masauli in Barabanki were strongly condemned. This has exposed Samajwadi Party's relations with the communal forces in the state. It was demanded to constitute a judicial inquiry and criminal action against the SP of Mau who did not record the statement of a victim of gang rape during these riots despite High Court orders.

ACTIVITIES

AISA Gheraos VC of PatnaUniversity

Hundreds of students led by All India Students' Association gheraoed the Vice Chancellor of Patna University to protest against an attack by anti-social elements on some students in a Hostel and local police's attempts to safeguard the attackers through filing case on nominal charges. AISA has criticized the University administration for failing to contain the criminal elements away from the campus and demanded to frame charge of attempted murder as four students were seriously injured in this attack. The protest was led by AISA's Bihar State Secretary Abhyuday who said that a militant students' movement can only guarantee a clean campus and democratic environment.

AIPWA Condemns police repression on students

All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA) in Bihar has condemned police repression on the students' movement going on in Tilaka Manjhi University in Bhagalpur. AIPWA's National Secretary Meena Tiwary has said that the barbarity let loose by police especially over the girl students is deplorable. After the severe lathcharge the police has imposed criminal cases on the students. This incident has exposed the real meaning of Nitish Kumar Govt.'s so called good governance and the constitution of special forces like SAP in only intended to suppress democratic movements. AIPWA has said that the students' demand of a properly appointed Vice Chancellor is just and it must be fulfilled, police officials who ordered repression should be punished and cases framed on students be withdrawn.

National Commission on Farmers' Report in Tune with Manmohanomics

In the backdrop of country's food security going at the brink of collapse, acute crisis in agriculture sector signifying starvation deaths, malnutrition, suicides, declining employment opportunities, forced migration, agriculture exports declining by more than 50% during last ten years, and Manmohan Singh's assurance of setting up 'professionally run' terminal market complexes in rural India - another assurance towards corporatisation of agriculture marketing - given in an agri-marketing summit organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Sept. 28, the National Commission on Farmers (NCF) headed by Dr. M. S. Swaminathan, the famous 'father of Green Revolution', submitted its fifth and final report to the government of India in the first week of October. As expected we would not find any mention of the inherent weaknesses in India's agriculture policy adopted since 60s and failure of the Green Revolution experiment that benefited multinational giant corporations but resulted in Indian farmers going towards penury and toiling rural workers facing starvation.
The NCF report agrees that suicides by farmers point to a 'larger agrarian crisis' which could be corrected through policy interventions. But the report uttered not a single word against the GoI's tirade for corporatising agriculture and presenting this move as a panacea of all the ills in this sector. But it raises certain issues pertinent to the agri. Sector and if taken seriously India Inc.'s political establishment will be in an uncomfortable situation.
The report favours the policy of building country's food security on 'home-grown' foodgrains primarily and warns that merely importing wheat and other grains will not ensure food security in the future. Among other things it says that the Food Security System can be secured through conserving farmland in Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh and through harnessing the vast untapped production reservoirs available in Bihar and eastern India, including Assam and West Bengal. It also criticizes the relaxation in quality norms for the import of wheat, which was done under pressure of US companies.
The Commission rightly says that it won't cost more than 1 % of the GDP if we universalise the public distribution system. Food Security Reserve should be in the hands of the Government and procurement be expanded to include new crops and new regions, particularly rainfed crops such as millets and pulses, but the report is silent on government's decision of allowing private players in foodgrain procurement and setting up of private mandis. It recommends credit for farmers at an interest not exceeding 4% per annum, but prefers to remain silent on the question of waiver of loans to smaller peasants and overwhelming presence of private money lenders in rural areas. The criterion for minimum support price is advocated as the 50% more than the average cost of production and that the farmers' labour be treated as skilled work and also to take in consideration the depreciation of farm machinery and other materials while computing the costs. An exclusive policy for `water for agriculture' and to make rainwater harvesting mandatory is advised and calls for involvement of farmers in the management of irrigation systems, but does not question the handing over of precious water resources to big corporates. The report also calls for 'better rural infrastructure and growth of non-farm sector' to increase employment opportunities, sounds pretty, but the phrase is borrowed from Manmohan Singh who uses this logic to facilitate the entry of private sector in rural economy. Interestingly, the Commission recommends that farming be made 'intellectually stimulating' (Are the peasant community a dumb mass?) and economically rewarding by conferring the economy of scale to small and marginal farmers in production and post-harvest phases 'to attract youth to agriculture'. The real meaning of this, in the terminology of liberalisation, may also be deciphered as the intended co-option of a section of youth to dilute the growing discontent in villages, as was the case with panchayati raj system.
In its earlier reports the NCF had said that the agriculture is a way of life for the Indian farmers but then recommended speedy 'market reforms' and 'training and literacy programmes' to bring farmers in conformity to WTO regulations. It also recommended the review of the policy and legal framework of the cooperatives and the need for their 'professionalisation' with 'a clear demarcation of functions of elected members and professional managers' which will actually lead towards handing over of cooperatives in the hands of corporate managers in the name of proficiency.
Although the report raises many issues but conclusively remains in conformity with government's agriculture policy that is playing havoc with the rural masses. As Manmohan Singh has said few days ago that the rural India will be the 'next big growth story' which will be accomplished through 'inter-sectoral co-ordination' (read privatisation), the people of India has no place in this story and the rural masses have to write their own through sustained struggles against the offence of liberalisation policies put forth by the ruling elite.   

An Evening of Cultural Performances in Honour of Bant Singh

Forum for Democratic Rights (FDI) organised an evening of cultural performances to honour Bant Singh and celebrate resistance at JNU City Centre on 15 October. Bant Singh, an activist of Mazdoor Mukti Morcha in Punjab, a dalit and a singer, whose arms and legs were smashed to a pulp by Congress backed landlords of his village for seeking justice for the dignity of his violated minor daughter and organising agrarian workers in his village. Both his arms and a leg were amputated following the attack in January last. Yet he is resolute and faces adversity with his songs. He has been transferred to a Delhi Hospital for artificial limbs and further treatment at the initiative of the FDI. FDI has also called for contributions for his rehabilitation.