Recent Work : 2008

Strenthening Democratic Institutions | Building networks, alliances and broad basing our understanding | Women's issues | Livelihood issues and food security | Ecological security issues

Strengthening democratic institutions

• Building the internal capacity of the Van Panchayat in democratic, accountable and transparent functioning has been the continuing theme of my engagement as the Sarpanch of the Sarmoli Jainti Van Panchayat. I will be completing my 5 year term this year and the focus of my work has been on enlarging the scope of this Panchayat beyond the regular afforestation, plantation and protection duties to engaging with larger ecological issues. This was done through the Munsiari Van Panchayat Sangathan - a federation of Van Panchayats in the valley with a membership of 50 Van Panchayats. The federation has, in this past year, organized several meetings at villages that are going to be affected by the proposed dams, we also organized a protest against the public hearing that was a farce in the light of the fact that the affected villagers were away in the alpine migratory homes and were therefore unable to attend the hearing. The hearing- though flawed in the very manner it was organized, and despite a very strong public protest, was deemed valid. The Munsiari Van Panchayat Sangathan now continues to inform the affected villagers of both the provisions in the law and the need to organize to be able to protect their homes, land and where possible, seek just and adequate rehabilitation and resettlement.
• The Van Panchayat Sangathan was also approached by the Van Panchayats officially allowed by the Forest Department to collect the high altitude medicinal plant- or to be more precise - Yarsa gombu or the insect grass (Cordyceps sinensis )- which sold at as much as Rs.300,0,00/ kilo in Munsiari itself last year. Used in traditional Chinese medicine, Yarsa gombu, is currently commanding this price as it is also sold as an aphrodisiac. This year the State, through the Forest Department, under the guise of regulating the trade of this locally extracted insect grass, attempted to control and monopolise all sale of the collected Cordyceps. But the rate being offered initially was a sixth of the market price. All collectors protested against this excessive interference by the state, when in all other scenarios, it was encouraging unregulated market interventions. The Sangathan represented the interest of the collectors and the concerned Van Panchayats with the Forest Department and also petitioned the Minister of Rural Development, Shri Chuphal, on his visit to Munsiari.
• Panchayati Raj institutions: In September 2008 Uttarakhand had its Panchayati Raj elections to its 3 tiers of self governance- to the village or gram panchayat, the Kshetriya samiti or the block development council in each block of the state, and the Zilla Panchayat (the District Level council). As a sangathan, Maati supported several women candidates, at a time when 50% of all seats were reserved for women. From debating the attributes of a suitable candidate, to the power of the polity in electing the right representative - were amongst the issues debated in public meetings that we organized in the run up to the elections. While some of the women supported by us won, the majority of women who came to power were those backed by powerful feudal and entrenched political interests of the region. However, our campaign continues as we believe that whosoever have come to power, as our representatives, they still remain accountable to the people and that the process of dialog and democratic decision making be strengthened and enhanced at every given opportunity. An article authored by me titled- “Elected women representatives- moving from strength to positions of power” was published in 'Uttara'- a regional women's journal.

Top

Building networks, alliances and broad basing our understanding:

• This is a critical part of our approach, to make the connection between local action and wider regional and even global policy issues of concern. I contributed a write up, on my deposition on the state of Uttarakhand's forest at the Indian People's Tribunal on the World Bank and its activities in India, held last year, for the book being published on the proceedings of the Tribunal.
• On the issue of the large Hydropower projects , we were part of the 'Jal Yatra' organized by the Uttarakhand Nadi Bachaoo Abhiyan, lead by Radha Behen, a leading Gandhian from Kausani, Uttarakhand. We organized a series of public meeting on the impact and politics of large dams and large run of the river projects, drawing on the experiences with other such projects in other parts of the state and the country, including the fate of the communities and environment affected by the Tehri and Narmada dam.
• I have been active with the Uttarakhand Parivartan Abhiyan, a state level network striving for political renewal and for a state more responsive to the original demand for statehood for this Himalayan state.
• Likewise, our association with Uttarakhand Mahila Manch has been an active one, with several public meetings having been organized by the Munsiari unit - especially to protest the various cases of violence against women in the valley as well as to collectively celebrate 100 years of the International Women's Day in March this year.
• We co-hosted a state level meet on primary education in Munsiari with the Rachnatmak Shiksha Manch, Uttarakhand ( Creative Education Forum) in the month of May this year.
• I ran a 6 week course called the Landscape and Lifeskills Course, along with the Gurukul Botanical Sanctuary, based in the Western Ghats. The interns were introduced to mountain living and learned about the integral link and the dependence of humans on nature. In May this year, I also ran a shorter 10 day course for the US based National Outdoor Leadership School on the Natural and Cultural History of the Himalaya. Interns live and work with the community and are introduced to the sustainable lifestyles and political ecology of the region. Apart from learning about the stewardship of the land in an ecologically responsible and sustainable way, of self reliance and of local craft economies, the interns are also introduced to the concept of a solarized farm agenda wherein this mountain dwelling community makes the most of local sunlight to feed one's family and to cook its food, power the lights, even spin its wool yarn. We have also hosted students on educational excursions from the University of Washington, Seattle, USA and from Heidelberg University, Germany this autumn.

Top

Women's issues

• Preventing violence against women and to fight against it has been an enduring part of our work. Through the year we have dealt with over a dozen crisis situations. But apart from the immediate support and intervention, our approach has been to sensitize and make accountable both the society and the state machinery. This year, we built a good working relationship with the local police, meeting regularly under their public interaction programme.
• Significantly, we received critical support in our Liquor prohibition campaign. Traditionally, mountain communities, particularly the Scheduled Tribe Bhotiya communities, are legally permitted to brew liquor for their own use. However, with limited livelihood options and a growing sense of alienation and despair, liquor is sold cheap locally, leading to a high incidence of drunkenness and domestic violence. Through the months of July and in the build up to the panchayat elections, an effective campaign against the sale of liquor and the consequent violence was mounted in association with village level women's group or Mahila Mangal Dal and the Gram Pradhan of the villages. Posters, public meetings, and in some cases confrontations and the threat of social boycott was effective in bringing down liquor sales drastically in the Munsiari area, resulting in a relatively peaceful election process and greatly reduced incidences of domestic violence. Though no local brewer of liquor was reported to the police, the tacit support in curbing illegal sales of liquor proved to be an effective deterrent.
• On International Women's day- celebrating a hundred years of struggle internationally, we honoured 5 women as 'Munsiari ki Chingari' or the 'Sparks of Munsiari'- woman who have over the years stood firm on their commitment to enhancing the status of women and fighting oppression. (want to put this with the building alliances part)

Top

Livelihood issues and food security:

• Food security and Sovereignty remains the key to our approach, given the soaring food shortage and rising prices the world over. We believe that there is a strong need to re-conceive agriculture as part of the solution to environmental problems like climate change. As most of the problems that afflict the food system is its heavy reliance on fossil fuels (for chemical pesticide and fertilizers, irrigation and transportation), our approach is to strengthen our solarized food economy. This form of sustainable and organic farming that has traditionally been practiced here in the mountains- where sunlight nourishes the grasses and grains, the plants nourish the animals, the animals nourish the soil, which in turn nourishes the next season's grasses and grains. This is also what Wendell Berry propagates as the elegant “solution” to the troubles that plague the present industrial model of agro-business. In our own localized way, we believe that this approach is critical as a model to move into the post-oil era, to improve the health of our people and to mitigate climate change.
• As a group, we continue to work our farms, market our small surplus locally, and sell the few cash crops we grow, like kidney beans and potatoes, to the regional markets in the state. We extend support to other farmers by saving, exchanging and procuring seeds, using simple, non-fossil fuel based, yet effective irrigation techniques in times of dry spells of weather. We are in the process of developing regional markets through alliances with Women's Federations, constituted through the government run Mahila Samakhya Programme ,to procure and sell organically grown food and spices like turmeric and coriander.
• We have completed a year long study on- 'The dependence of subsistence farming on the forests for nutrient recylcing.' and have now to process the data and quantify our findings. An AID Boston volunteer has offered to assist in this task.
• Wool work remains another of our traditional craft based livelihoods and we have extended marketing support to local women producers through Maati. We now take orders and have been producing wool yarn and garments for another community based enterprise in the state called Uttarakhand Grameen Udyog and have been supported in our marketing efforts by Delhi based groups like Kriti and SRUTI Foundation.
• The Community based Nature Tourism Enterprise has brought in much needed cash income into the community. Our revenue and tourist inflow has been steadily increasing, though our push has been measured. We have spent a good amount of time and energy building internal capacities of the families involved- in the Home stay arrangement as well as those working as porters and guides. Our emphasis has been on making the enterprise culturally and ecologically conducive to the fragile ecosystem of the Himalaya.
• Several batches from our community have visited the state run Eco tourism Centre in Ramnagar as part of an awareness and educational initiative.
• We have been visited by various other groups who wished to learn from our Community Based Nature Tourism enterprise that is being successfully run through the Van Panchayat. We hosted several teams of both professional development workers and members of the community from other parts of the state, sent by the Ajeevika Project funded by IFAD.
• This September, we celebrated World Tourism Day on the 27th, and used the opportunity to bring on board all tour and hotel operators in Munsiari to commit to a regimen of sustainable tourism, where both livelihoods and conservation would be dealt with an even hand.
• We have been in dialog with NASSCOM Foundation to procure computers for the Sangathan. We believe that computer literacy and being able to access information as well as connect with the desired markets for our tourism and other local enterprises will be of immense long term advantage to this remote mountain community.

Top

Ecological security issues:

• Hydro power projects in the valley. In the build up to the mandatory Public Hearing to held be before the final environment clearance, subsequent to which other clearances to commence construction work are given, we organized a series of meetings, disseminated information on the processes that should be undertaken and discussed their legal and policy underpinnings as well as their implications on the affected villagers and the ecology of the Gori valley. A small mobile exhibition was taken to each public meeting, committees were formed and membership to the Munsiari Van Panchayat Sangathan made in order to constitute a common front for future action. Letters were written to all the 20 affected villages on one of the projects, who till then had no prior intimation of their coming within the affected area of the project. A memorandum was submitted to the Chief Minister of Uttrakhand, Shri B.C. Khanduri on his visit to Munsiari in May, urging him to review the negative ecological and human impact of the proposed hydro power projects and requesting the cancellation of the then proposed Public Hearing. On the day of the Hearing on the 11th of June 2008, women were at the fore front of the protest, as were members of the Van Panchayat Sangathan. Memoranda was once again submitted to the local administration and along with that copies of all the protest letters were also sent to the Uttarakhand Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board, the Expert Appraisal Committee under the Ministry of Environment and Forests as well as the Chairman and Managing Director, the National Thermal Power Corporation- which is the implementing agency for the construction of the Power Project. I also represented the Sangathan in an association of affected villages formed by the newly elected panchayati raj representatives.
• At the second Mesar Forest Fair this year, 3 eminent conservationists from the valley were conferred the 'Lok Prakriti Puraskar' instituted by the Sarmoli Jainti Van Panchayat and Himal Prakritito honour them for their lifetimes work at conserving the ecological integrity of this region. Organized in January, the highlight of the Fair was a photo exhibition highlighting the natural heritage of the region, as were the cultural programmes, including a drumming competition. The prize money for the drumming competition was sponsored by the Uttaranchal Grameen Bank, while some of the photos were provided by leading photographers from Uttarakhand.
• Sarmoli Jainti Van Panchayat: Routine work of the Sarmoli Jainti Van Panchayat was undertaken with the wide participation of the right holders, particularly women. This included the seeding of half a quintal of Oak seeds, a broad leafed tree valued for its wood, leaf litter and water recharging qualities. In addition, dead wood was auctioned as were grass lots for dry fodder for winter.
• A woman watch person was appointed for a month , while the regular watchman was working as a porter with the Community based Nature Tourism Programme. This was a first, and she proved to be very effective in apprehending free riders. We have been successful in building up our Conservation fund within the Panchayat which is a contributory cess put in by the right holders. This money then goes for paying the watch person as well as to carry out the various conventional activities of the Panchayat.
• We are also working towards an increase of the area under the Van Panchayat as its present area is far from adequate to meet the subsistence needs of the present 300 plus right holder families from the 2 revenue villages that jointly own the forest. To this end, interns in the Landscape and Lifeskills course did a detailed ground mapping of the existing area using the GPS for ground truthing locations. This is of critical importance as the present maps are mere sketches and are virtually useless in matters of settling disputes.
• This year I have been responsible for organizing the construction work to build up infrastructure in the community to enhance the tourism potential of Munsiari. This includes the building of a beautiful open air stage at Mesar Kund with the snow covered Panchachuli massif as a backdrop, camping platforms, a tourist shelter at the kund, deepening and rejuvenating the spectacularly located Kund itself, nature trails leading up to it with signage, a parking area at the entrance to the nature trails. Attached restrooms for the houses that host tourists under the Family Home Stay Programme were built through a partial grant from the Forest Department, as were most of the other construction work undertaken. We have just laid the foundation for the Nature Interpretation Centre, though we have raised but Rs.500 thousand of the required Rs.800 thousand to complete the building, we are also undertaking a fund raising drive to raise the balance amount.
• While we have worked closely with the State Forest Department on our tourism initiative, and have another joint project on the plantation and conservation of the montane bamboo in the Van Panchayat and the Reserve Forest area in the pipe line, we have also been questioning the increasing pressure from the department to rescind effective community control over our forest. The Forest Department is demanding that we make them joint holders of our Bank account as the new rules of 2005 that govern Van Panchayats authorize the department to take a 10% share in all our income. The invasive measures of divesting the community of its ownership of the forest and reducing us to mere managers and even cheap labour include measures like declaring that the community cannot dispense or distribute any dead wood or trees without the prior permission of the department. With each of these moves on the part of the Forest Department, our Van Panchayat, along with the Munsiari Van Panchayat Sangathan is committed to challenging the erosion of our right to own and manage our forest for the subsistence needs and survival of the local community, as opposed to managing it as a resource to be exploited by the market.

Top