Power of the People

Political Mobilisation and Guaranteed Employment

Various non-political outfits were involved in the introduction of Maharashtra’s
Employment Guarantee Scheme. Once introduced, these organisations understood the
potentialities of EGS as a means to address various issues relating to the
marginalised sections of society, including dalits, women, tribals and the landless,
among others. This paper analyses how these groups engaged with the state in defining
the scope and reach of EGS and how over time this definition of EGS was
enlarged by these same groups to ensure the empowerment of the poor.
SHAJI JOSEPH

It is not the imagination of one individual but a long drawn out second phase (after 1978) activist groups focused on proper
and continuous mobilisation and agitation by different groups implementation of the EGS Act and to change some provisions
and movements that made the passage of EGS possible. in view of the changing conditions. While the Maharashtra
(Interview with Comrade D S Deshpande of Lal Nishan Party, Rajya Shetmajoor Parishad, Yukrand and the Shramik
December 7, 2003). Sanghatana were more active in the first phase, the Kashtakari

C
ompared to other state-led poverty alleviation programmes, Sanghatana and the Shramjeevi Sanghatana were more active in
there has been a greater degree of mobilisation around the latter.
the Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS) in Maharashtra. In light of the larger political context of the period, the late
Between the early 1970s and late 1980s, a number of organisations 1960s witnessed the emergence of a flurry of activism. Scholars
emerged mobilising rural workers in different parts of Maharashtra reflecting on the emergence of these new political actors termed
to get EGS enacted and implemented. Further, they used EGS them – “Non Party Political Formations (NPPFs)” [Kothari
as a platform to raise broader questions of discrimination affect- 1989], “grassroots initiatives” or “new change agents” [Sheth
ing marginalised groups, issues of social reforms and poverty. 1984]. What was common among these conceptions was that
In 1981, they came together forming an umbrella organisation these groups were born out of a deep scepticism towards electoral
– the Maharashtra Rajya Shetmajoor and Employment Guarantee politics and a critique of the state’s developmental agenda.
Scheme Workers Samanvaya Samiti (henceforth Samanvaya Kothari (1989), Sheth (1984) and Sethi (1984) identify some
Samiti) – to collectively advocate for changes in state policy common characteristics that unite NPPFs. First, NPPFs reflect
relating to rural workers in the context of EGS. the resurgence of the “people” asserting their democratic rights,
Such a high degree of collective action warrants two related challenging the established order outside party political pro-
questions: First, what enabled activist organisations to collec- cesses. Second, although these groups and movements were
tively mobilise rural workers to advocate for changes in public predominantly autonomous, they were also associated with radical
policy? Second, what impact did the resultant programme – the and marginal political parties such as the Lal Nishan Party (LNP)
EGS – have on sustaining activism? This paper delves deeper and the Socialist Party. Third, their agitations were directed
into these questions through a detailed examination of the role towards local problems, and though small, their impact on the
played by five activist groups in advocating for and later rede- prevailing discourse on poverty mitigation through public works
fining the EGS. They are Maharashtra Rajya Shetmajoor Parishad, was critical in reframing and enlarging the notion of public works.
Yukrand, Shramik Sanghatana, Kashtakari Sanghatana, and Fourth, the NPPFs perceived poverty not only in terms of eco-
Shramjeevi Sanghatana.1 I assess their contribution in the en- nomic inequalities but also as a consequence of the social-
actment and implementation of EGS and the ways EGS itself structural locations of the poor; therefore raised questions of
enabled activist organisations to translate their concerns into material concern such as land relations and land reforms. Simul-
action. Subsequently, I examine the reasons behind the decline taneously they addressed questions regarding tribal and dalit
in activism among these organisations since the late 1980s. identity because they recognised that economic exploitation alone
The role of these groups in mobilising for social change does did not explain poverty. Fifth, the groups in Maharashtra formed
not start or end with EGS. Those existing prior to EGS had worked an umbrella organisation, a loose federation networked among
on land reforms, rural poverty and employment. Groups that the groups mobilising on EGS, called Samanvaya Samiti. Sixth,
emerged post EGS ratification worked on other important ques- the leaders of the NPPFs belonged to the upper and middle castes
tions such as bonded labour and mobilising unorganised workers. and class and were mainly urban based. Seventh, over time, the
The history of their mobilisation related to EGS can be examined leaders of some of these political groups institutionalised their
in two phases. In the first phase (up to 1978) activist groups work by altering these groups, from ‘sangathana’ (movement)
mobilised so that the government adopted the principle of into that of a ‘sanstha’ (NGO).
guaranteed employment and campaigned for the inclusion of The five organisations examined in this paper fit this
certain worker friendly provisions within the EGS Act. In the characterisation of NPPFs, to a large extent. In the context of

Economic and Political Weekly December 16, 2006 5149

EGS, I detail the emergence of these movements and examine work sites within a five-mile radius and that work begins im-
their link with political parties. I evaluate how EGS enabled them mediately when 50 or more people demanded work. The Parishad
to mobilise rural workers in demanding the implementation of intended that the rights of the organised working class be extended
the EGS Act. I assess their strategies in using EGS to further to the rural poor. Their slogan was ‘poore poore kaam, pot bhar
broader agendas of worker, tribal and dalit rights, land reforms dam, ya shivai mage hatoo naka’ (adequate employment and
and poverty alleviation. I trace their involvement with the Samanvaya wages, or we shall resist until these demands are met). Following
Samiti and its subsequent weakening and decline in organising this the Parishad organised many struggles. For instance:
around EGS in general since the late 1980s. My focus in tracing In Shrirampur due to the absenteeism of authorities work could
the history of the evolution of these organisations is to examine not commence. Consequently, in July 1972 the workers threatened
the spaces of intersection of organisations and government and overwhelmed two junior engineers. Only after higher officials
programmes to ascertain the extent to which government intervened, they freed the engineers. However they now held the
programmes enable or constrain organisational mobilisation. tahsildar responsible and kept him as a hostage instead. They
promised to release him only if work would commence imme-
diately. The concerned authority promised five new EGS work
Maharashtra Rajya Shetmajoor Parishad sites. This intervention instantly attracted the attention of top
The Maharashtra Rajya Shetmajoor Parishad (Parishad) was district officials though the incident was peaceful in nature (Grameen
a rural trade union established by Lal Nishan Party (LNP) leaders Shramik, 1973, May, p 5).
such as Datta Deshmukh in 1971 in Shrirampur taluka in However, the problem of under/unemployment did not diminish
Ahmednagar and was affiliated to LNP to mobilise the rural poor though the effects of the drought did subside. The Parishad
against the drought. However, the Parishad and LNP retained attempted to make the EGS permanent with the slogan “the right
a distance from each other for strategic reasons. The Parishad to employment on demand” (Interview with D S Deshpande of
limited its activities to the mobilisation of rural workers and kept LNP, August 13 and 28, 2003). Thus, the Parishad demanded
away from electoral politics which the LNP continued. And yet, that the state government create a permanent fund for this scheme.
in many ways the Parishad’s rural base helped LNP to crystallise The Rs 5 crore pledged by V P Naik the chief minister in March
its long held vision to forge an integrated rural-urban workers 1973 was insufficient. By the end of 1973 there were about
union. For example, in January 1971 the Parishad organised 1,54,000 relief work sites employing about 25 lakh workers. At
demonstrations of around 25,000 rural workers in Bombay with this juncture Parishad proposed the introduction of a tax to be
the support of the urban workers around the slogan ‘ala re ala collected from professionals in urban centres.
shetkari ala’ (here comes the farmer). The official journal of the Consequently, in December 1974, in a statement the govern-
Parishad called this the beginning of a new era in the working ment accepted the responsibility to provide full employment to
class movement in India (Grameen Shramik, February 1, 1972:9).2 those who seek it, as a fundamental objective of its fiscal and
I assess the role of the Parishad at two junctures. The first pertains economic policy. The statement also incorporated all the demands
to the introduction of EGS and the second for the implementation of the Parishad including levying of a new professional tax and
of the provisions in the act. pegging EGS wages at par with agricultural wages.
In early 1970s the Parishad used a combination of strategies to During the emergency, the Parishad’s activities waned. How-
press its demands including demonstrations, strikes, road blocks, ever, when EGS was enacted in 1978, the Parishad restarted
gheraos, sit-ins, long marches and fasts as also petitions and mobilising to implement the provisions of the act. The demands
delegations to government. The Parishad pressurised the gov- included parity in wages for men and women and between
ernment to extend drought relief work to rural areas. In an instance agricultural and EGS workers, social security, pension, dearness
when the government failed to pay rural workers, the Parishad allowance, crèches, access to potable water, shelter, maternity
collected Rs 40 lakh from the industrial workers in Bombay and relief, and the issuance of identity cards. They also demanded
Pune. This idea that the urban population could provide support abolishing the system of engaging contractors, providing per-
to rural poor later formed the Parishad’s demand of imposing manent employment to muster clerks, and extension of EGS to
a tax on urban professionals to provide resources for the EGS. forest work.
In January 1972 the Parishad demanded – the expansion of The Parishad continued its activities at two levels: (i) for proper
the public distribution system (PDS) in drought prone areas, an implementation of the provisions, and (ii) caring for adverse
inquiry committee to ensure minimum and timely wages in economic conditions and the specific plight of the small farmers.
drought relief sites, controlling black marketing and inflation, For instance, it asked the government to write off the agricultural
taking action against officials who exploit the poor, controlling credit loans. To this end it organised rallies in Sholapur and
police authoritarianism and introduction of new employment Osmanabad in 1979. It raised issues such as the non-initiation
opportunities. This pressure made the state Congress leadership of EGS works, of corruption in EGS works, of untimely payment,
incorporate the issue of employment guarantee in their 15-point and of ensuring that ration shops recognise food coupons given
programme. In April 1972 the state government initiated the EGS under the scheme. Its membership increased from 10,000 in early
for the entire state as a drought relief scheme. In addition to the 1970s to 60,000 in late 1970s (interview with D S Deshpande,
above scheme it also decided to initiate local employment schemes August 13 and 28, 2003).
to be operated by each village panchayat with effect from the The internal documents of the Parishad show that over time,
same date (Economic Times, May 2, 1972:3). work in the districts among rural poor declined due to improved
Once EGS was introduced the Parishad concentrated on the economic situation and the shift of their attention to unionising
appropriate implementation of the existing provisions of the the unorganised. There is only one record that this author could
scheme. The main demands now included doubling of EGS find regarding their involvement in EGS. This record indicates
wages, an eight-hour working day, a weekly holiday, location of a change in tactics. For the first time the Parishad used the court

5150 Economic and Political Weekly December 16, 2006

to pressurise the state. In 1984, the Parishad filed a writ petition Yukrand activists formulated their vision and strategy by
in the high court to ask the government to pay unemployment elaborating and collating the ideas of Marx, Gandhi, Phule and
allowance when it did not start the EGS works in Ahmednagar Ambedkar. Like other left parties it critiqued unequal landholding
district. The court ruled in favour of the workers but the gov- patterns in the villages and wanted comprehensive land reforms.
ernment did not implement this order till as late as 1999, indicating Its leaders were initially drawn towards the contemporary so-
that EGS remained a low priority for the state. cialist discourse of Ram Manohar Lohia but later questioned its
The Parishad’s work was highly significant in the mobilisation efficacy through a Marxist and a dalit evaluation. Yukrand’s
of the rural poor and in ensuring that these workers’ entitlements critique was at two levels. First, it was against the mainstream
matched those of the organised urban workers. In the early 1970s socialist parties, which understood the nature of caste exploitation
the Parishad broadened the agenda by demanding proper imple- (unlike the communists) but did not integrate this into a political
mentation of land reform and minimum wages as part of a larger strategy for reconstruction of society. Second, the Republican
movement of landless agricultural workers. However over time Party of India, the party of the scheduled castes founded by
their involvement declined as it focused on the legal front. B R Ambedkar, advocated an electoral strategy to change the
Why did the Parishad, so successful in the 1970s, suddenly power equation. This, Yukrand felt instrumentalised the goals
lose significance in late 1980s? B R Bauke, a founder member of genuine revolution. It wished to extend participatory demo-
of Parishad, in an interview on December 7, 2002, stated that cracy to all organisational issues and matters at all levels. No
in areas where Parishad had its base, the number of EGS’s works wonder, its leaders advocated that all decision-making should
had declined affecting their mobilisation. Additionally the Parishad be collective, after a thorough discussion and debate of the issues
faced internal organisational problems. The LNP had split with on board.
one group supporting the Congress Party resulting in a split in Yukrand became a part of the Dushkal Nivaran and Nirmoolan
the Parishad. One faction that supported B R Bauke did not Samiti. In the initial period the demands of the Yukrand were
support the Congress. As a result the Parishad’s strength was similar to that of the Parishad. However, after 1972, when the
reduced in Ahmadnagar where Parishad was strong. The failure state introduced the EGS programme, the nature of their work
of the textile strike in 1983-84 was a deathblow to all communist changed radically. Like the Parishad, Yukrand wanted to ensure
trade unions in the state depleting LNP’s monetary resources. that EGS metamorphose into a permanent employment programme.
The state was promoting NGOs in service delivery of develop- But their approach included some of the revolutionary ideas that
ment programmes. This tendency was part of a larger interna- they were developing regarding caste-based class exploitation
tional trend of NGOisation, negatively affecting people’s move- and ways to reconstruct a casteless society.
ments. Today all that is left of the Parishad is a few files in its The experiments of social reconstruction in two locations
Shreerampur office managed by its elderly leader B R Bauke provides evidence of how Yukrand leaders translated their ideas
who continues to adhere to the revolutionary ideology. into reality. In 1973 Kumar Saptarshi settled in Rashin village
of Ahmednagar and initiated the first experiment and in 1979
Yuvak Kranti Dal Shantaram Pandhere undertook a similar effort in Vaijapur Taluka
of Aurangabad. Other leaders also initiated such mobilisations
Yuvak Kranti Dal (Yukrand) was started in 1969 as a student’s in other regions. The Yukrand considered Rashin as the “labo-
organisation in Pune.3 Initially it focused its activities on issues ratory” while Vaijapur was the “field”.
faced by students in colleges and universities of Maharashtra. Rashin was one of the most backward of villages, perennially
In the course of this mobilisation in Pune, Mumbai and under drought conditions. However sugarcane cultivation, which
Auranagabad, it came to understand the particular problems faced needed continuous access to water, dominated the region’s crop
by the student body in general and particularly the deprived pattern. As a result, landlords ensured that their land was irrigated
groups, especially the scheduled castes. The latter were in some leaving bereft the small and marginal peasants and the landless,
throes of transformation as they started understanding their own mostly belonging to the dalit and other lower castes [Brahme
oppression through the dawning realisation of a new identity, and Upadhya 1979].
that of “dalit” (the oppressed). The leaders of Yukrand understood Saptarshi started collecting information regarding the nature
dalit oppression as cultural and ideological oppression, encap- of oppression in the village, both historically and in contemporary
sulated in the emerging dalit literature movement and later by terms. Land reforms had hardly made an impact in this region.
the Dalit Panther Movement [Omvedt 1994]. This oppression was bolstered by a historically conditioned
Yukrand leaders from the upper castes started rethinking their jajmani relationship of patron-client to the Maratha landlords.
own social background and its impact on the organisation of This hierarchical relationship created a dependency, which made
politics. They argued that there was a need to “de-caste” them- the dalits accept their oppression, both material and cultural. In
selves. Nalini Pandit, succinctly elaborates,4 1973, Saptarshi mobilised the dalits and gaining their confidence
Marx expected socialists to be declassed. Every middle class by becoming “one among them”. He and the other activists
intellectual is made aware of his class bias from the time he joins dwelled and shared food with the dalits. This kind of participatory
the Communist Party. The socialists in the country realised that involvement elicited immense support from the villagers.
they needed to de-caste themselves before undertaking revolution- We lived with the dalits and the EGS (formed) the sites of
ary activities. mobilisation. The activists ensured that the meetings were inter-
This philosophy was extended even to interpersonal relation- active. Once the villagers were aware of important issues, the next
ships including marriage. These changes gave many upper caste step was to defy the village officials – predominantly upper caste
leaders of Yukrand a space within the dalit community not people. Our land grab movements enraged the upper caste land-
available till then to the outsiders (interview with S P Punalekar, lords in 1974 in Rashin who attempted a murderous attack on me
March 7, 2003). (interview with Kumar Saptarshi, February 12, 2003).

Economic and Political Weekly December 16, 2006 5151

 Like the Parishad, Yukrand demanded that the rural poor have administrative skills and the need to fight for their rights. Pandhere
access to structural material needs. They also demanded an end recollects that,
to all cultural and ideological oppression. Yukrand wanted the In a village, the talati made sexual advances towards a dalit woman.
state to implement a broad-based strategy, such as giving land When she approached us, hundreds of EGS workers marched to
to the tiller, the distribution of common property resources and the village office. The women forced the talati out of his office,
grazing land seized under Land Ceiling Act to landless and the undressed him and garlanded him with chappals. He was then made
dalits, provide minimum wages, waive loans, expand drought to walk around the town while the women booed at him. This shows
relief programmes and freeing dalits from all bondage by abol- the confidence the women gained through the work of Yukrand.
ishing zamindari (especially in Marathwada region). In early 1980s, in many villages, Yukrand formed lok samitis
Success of this experiment led to more work sites becoming (committees of villagers). These samities were organised around
centres of further mobilisation. Yukrand leaders were now able the slogans of people’s education, people’s movement and
to understand that EGS had the potential of not only organising Satyagraha. All decision-making was by the rural poor while
the dalits but also of weakening the stronghold of the maratha Yukrand leaders would be mere facilitators. Henceforth, lok
patrons. By providing an alternative employment, EGS freed the samitis decided on the demands regarding the nature and kind
dalits from patron-client dependency. However, they recognised of EGS works, the selection of work sites and to ensuring
that this dependence was structural and so needed a long-term minimum and timely wages. They mobilised the villages against
solution as the dalits were subjected to social and other forms corruption and insensitivity of officials and demanded crèche
of oppression. Thus they wanted the dalits organised to demand facilities. In addition, Samiti started raising structural issues such
for their own entitlements. as access to gaonthan and grazing land, which the landlords had
More specifically, like the Parishad, it wanted EGS to be a encroached on. Some samities initiated a land grab movement
permanent employment programme always available on and demanded that the government register the grazing and forest
demand to the rural poor. They also attempted to enlarge the land in the names of landless.
conception of productive work and integrate it into the notion The organisation suffered a further ideological division in 1982
of participative democracy such that the kind and type of public on the issue of affiliating with the Marxist Leninist movement
works under EGS was to be decided by the rural poor. They in the state. One group supporting the latter strategy remained
wanted to reclaim and develop wasteland, through watershed headquartered at Pune and the other in Aurangabad. These ideolo-
development, so that once developed, this could be distributed gical and organisational tensions and divisions affected local level
among the dalits. mobilisation. In 1994 the organisation was formally dissolved.
This revolutionary experiment received a temporary setback
during Emergency. After Emergency the organisation came under Shramik Sanghatana and Tribal Mobilisation
crisis in 1978. Saptarshi joined mainstream politics and became
a member of the Janata Party. This divided the organisation into Magowa, a student Marxist group was formed in 1967 at Pune.5
those who supported the move to mainstream politics and those Magowa means “to look back and to go forward”. It attracted
who did not. The latter decided that they would continue EGS the youth sympathetic to Marxist ideology but critical of existing
mobilisation in their own respective regions and would be communist parties. As Sulabha Brahme, a noted social scientist
autonomous in organising these activities. They now argued that in an interview on January 16, 2003 stated,
their philosophy was encapsulated in the slogan, ‘Sangharash ani By the 1970s, the communist parties had become oriented to
rachanatmak Karya’, that is, struggle and creative work. parliamentary politics, though immediately after independence
A much-truncated Yukrand now started new experiments in they were quite radical. The limitations of parliamentary politics
different regions after the enactment of EGS. Shantaram Pandhere led many youth to become radical and search for alternatives.
and his wife Mangala Khirswara mobilised the rural poor in Sudhir Bedekar, an activist, also confirms this analysis. He
Vaijjapur in Aurangabad, Ajit Sardar in Khed (Pune), and Ranga argues that in their discussions they attempted to address con-
Rachure in Udgir, Latur district. Below I discuss the work in temporary problems of peasants and landless and assess the nature
Vaijapur as an example. Vaijapur comprised 72 villages and was of Indian capitalism and make a critique of the existing political
considered among the most backward of talukas, though hardly alternatives. They were especially concerned with the lack of
70 kilometres away from the industrial town of Aurangabad. success of all-India movements, such as Kisan Sabha and also
Plagued by perennial drought unemployment, the region was the Naxalite movements. He said that joining the parties could
steeped in poverty with a large dalit community. mean some compromise and stagnation. Though the Magowa
In 1979, Pandhere organised the dalits to demand that the group drew inspiration from the Naxalite movement, they ques-
Nandur Madheshwar canal irrigation work be brought under EGS tioned their annihilation strategy. They felt that there has to be
and trained the dalits to execute this work themselves, thus a mass movement against the landlords who exploit the tribals.
making long-term employment opportunities available for them. This group saw their major enemies as the landlords, the Congress
However, the landlords from the maratha community resisted Party and the state machinery.
this demand. The activists however began working without his The Magowa group tried to understand the specific conditions
consent on his land and the landlord could not physically resist of tribals in Maharashtra. They found that tribal exploitation
this collective action. Other landlords agreed but only if the history dated before colonialism. During colonialism existing
work was executed by private contractors, often members of exploitative processes were further enhanced through policies
their kin groups. At this juncture, the rural poor demanded that denying the tribals access to forests, and thus to their traditional
the work of the canal could only progress if it was under EGS. cultural and religious sites. Additionally, during this period, the
The pressure made the government succumb to their demand. tribals were burdened with agricultural tax and agricultural
This victory gave the rural poor a possibility of learning new commercialisation leading to alienation of their land. Gradually,

5152 Economic and Political Weekly December 16, 2006

the tribals became landless agricultural labour and tenant cul- The sanghatana, a membership-based trade union had between
tivators from a position of being small landholding cultivators. 15,000 and 20,000 members at the height of its influence. Funds
In effect, this transformed the tribal economy, culture, and religion. came from the members, but it also had contributing well-wishers
This process of commercialisation and land alienation intensified in large cities. Like Yukrand, SS attempted to democraticise
in the post-independent period [Brahme and Upadyaya 1979; decision-making. Consequently, in 1979 there were eight tribal
Gare 2000].6 activists among the 14 full-time activists.
The members of Magowa started their work in Dhule and The SS created Lok Samitis, tarun mandals and mahila mandals.
Thane. These districts had seen major mobilisations since the In an interview Manohar Deenanath a member of the SS, said
1930s. One such movement was organised by Godavari Parulekar that the tarun mandal activists would supervise the EGS sites,
of the Kisan Sabha affiliated to the Communist Party. After the measurement of work done, the payment of wages, the amount
independence, groups affiliated to the Gandhian movement and quality of foodgrains, and ensure access to drinking water,
established their presence in these two districts in addition to shelter, as well as question corruption by officials. Their militancy
Praja Socialist Party and Bhoomi Sena which had a base in Thane made them visible and respected even by the local administra-
in early 1970s. tions. During the Emergency, however, the SS activities declined.
Amber Singh Suratwanti, a local tribal leader earlier associated After the lifting of Emergency the sanghatana did not revive,
with the Sarvodaya Mandal had organised the tribals in Dhule. though they did initiate mobilisation for better implementation
Disillusioned by the Sarvodaya philosophy he had formed an of the EGS. They raised issues of measurement of work, timely
organisation – the Gram Swarajya Samiti, which initiated the payment of wages and dues pending from the earlier years, which
Bhoo-Mukti Andolan. The Magowa activists joined Amber Singh’s the contractors had not paid [Sathe 1990].
movement in January 1972. This movement started with a However, ideological and personal differences among the
conference, which took place after a violent incident against the activists could not sustain the organisation. Its decline relates to
tribals. It focused on the exploitation by the landlords from the individual members affiliation to political parties though the
gujjar and maratha community in Dhule district and worked for group had decided to avoid being part of mainstream parties.
long-term struggle. It decided that the activists would be inde- Some joined CPI(M) others the joined LNP. Others wanted to
pendent from political parties, responsible for the decisions of be part of NGOs. By 1982 most of the leaders had left the
the movement and that the movement would not resort to violence organisation. The only symbol of its existence that remained in
except for self-defence. In June 1972, the activists from Magowa Dhule district was a building [Sathe 1990].
set up the Shramik Sanghatana (SS) which worked with the Gram
Swarajya Samiti. This mobilisation was done in context of the Kashtakari Sanghatana
drought relief work initiated through the EGS.
SS embarked on its mobilisation when the drought was at its Kashtakari Sanghatana (KS) was instituted in 1979 by members
height so its primary concern was securing employment for the of the catholic church from Mumbai. Pradeep Prabhu, Nikki
tribals. The activists lived at these work sites and gradually Cordosso and Susheela Desouza the founders of KS had earlier
“conscientised” the tribals regarding the exploitation they faced worked with the Christian mission in Talassari taluka in Thane.
and ways to resist the landlords. These landlords employed the Deeply influenced by liberation theology they addressed the
tribals cheaply in the agricultural season. Under the leadership problems faced by the tribals. They critiqued the passivity of
of the SS the tribals boycotted the landlords. Through gheraos, the church regarding structural exploitation and violence perpe-
roadblocks, picketing of government offices, long marches by trated against the tribals. This forced them to leave the religious
the tribals, the SS kept up the pressure. SS also took the gov- congregation and work on their own. As a result KS was estab-
ernment officials and police to task for harassing the tribals. The lished in Dahanu taluka in Thane and their activities focused in
exploitative shopkeepers were publicly punished by trials. These Dahanu, Jawahar and Mokhada talukas.
tactics in several ways empowered the tribals. KS was in many ways a different organisation than the ones
The SS revolutionary agenda included the return of tribal land described above. Though it believed in mobilisation, it was not
illegally cultivated by the landlords and/or moneylenders. SS had a movement like the Parishad. It was run as an NGO with salaried
conducted a survey of the tribal land illegally usurped by the activists. It did not have a global vision for a revolution. Other
landlords. As a result of their struggle by May 1972 they had than tribals, its mobilisation included workers in unorganised
recovered 1,872 acres of land partly through negotiations and sectors like construction, salt pans and brick kilns. They used
organised struggles. They demanded that land leased out for a the print media for eliciting support from the middle class. EGS
limited tenure by the tribals need to be promptly taken back after was not the only means of mobilisation, though it was critical
the expiry of such tenures, that cultivation in the forest land be in its initial stages.
declared legal and the government start programmes to provide The KS found that 95.53 per cent and 96.59 per cent of the
employment. tribal population in Jawahar and Shahpur lived below the poverty
Like in other parts of Maharashtra, the landlords in Dhule line. Thus the immediate need was access to land and/or other
district were mainly the marathas. The SS emulated the Kisan employment. While a large number of tribals had become landless
Sabha model of land capture movement. Over 4,000 acres of land agricultural labour, some had become domestic servants. The
were recaptured in the period 1972-74. The SS demands in 1973 police and the authorities were not being responsive and were
included registration of land in the names of the tribals cultivating colluding with the landlords in fabricating false cases despite
forest land, returning the fines collected from them, cancelling incidences of ill treatment and sexual harassment.
their debts, distributing land among the tribals, withdrawing all KS believed in five concepts: educating people, conscientising
the judicial and police cases against them, and starting EGS works people, people’s work, people’s organisation and people’s might.
immediately on demand. KS organised youth camps, and youth festivals in the villages

Economic and Political Weekly December 16, 2006 5153

to popularise these. Initially EGS work sites became the site for such as social forestry, soil conservation, and small dams, because
mobilising the tribals. In Amboli village, Dahanu taluka, KS most of the EGS works appeared to be related to activities such
started its first mobilisation activity. In an interview, on March as road building. KS wanted that EGS be implemented the entire
11, 2003, Shiraz Bulsara states, year to reduce the control of landlords on the tribals. Thus, during
A trader abused an elderly tribal woman when she asked for the Jabran Jot campaign against land alienation, the EGS works
balance money from a shopkeeper after buying the provisions. proved extremely significant in continuing the struggle and
The shopkeeper instead of paying her dues abused her and beat achieving some result.
her up. The KS organised a morcha compelling the shopkeeper KS is a membership focused organisation. In 2000, almost
not only pay back the balance but also publicly apologise to the
woman. This morcha included EGS workers in the same village.
10,000 families paid an annual subscription of Rs. 50 from 300
This was a moment of awakening to them that they brought a man villages in the three talukas. Though committed to the develop-
with great political clout to his knees. This won for the KS the ment of tribal leadership, not many tribals have become activists
support of the tribals. in KS. Funds from the middle classes and well-wishers declined
KS organised many tribal demonstrations in Dahanu against by the late 1980s, making organisations like KS move to seeking
the oppression of landlords. When the leaders were arrested, international projects. In early 1980s, KS increasingly came into
tribals struck work, carried out protest marches and even gheraoed conflict with the CPI(M) who felt that KS was encroaching on
the government officials. To counter it, the landlords would its domain, (there is a long history of Kisan Sabha mobilisation
boycott the tribals or get workers from other areas. In these in this area) diminishing the influence and mobilisation of KS
circumstances, the EGS proved fruitful as an alternate employ- around EGS. The establishment of other NGOs affected the KS’s
ment. When in 1982, a drought like situation occurred in Thane, influence. Consequently, since late 1980s KS has started mobilising
KS demanded EGS works, and the government sanctioned 13 tribals in the unorganised sector.
sites providing work to about 6,000 tribals. In 1982 there were
40 EGS works in Dahanu, and 200 in Jawahar taluka when KS Shramjeevi Sanghatana
demanded EGS for dam-affected people.
The KS found that the EGS sites concealed economic interests Like KS, Shramjeevi Sanghatana (SJS) is an advocacy group,
of rich traders and landlords. For example, wells or roads being that belives in training bonded labour about its rights. Vivek
built near the field of landlords, giving them access to water, Pandit and Vidyulata Pandit, members of the Janata Party,
transport and markets. KS now argued that the government formally established it in October 1982 as a trade union. Initially
initiate schemes to create public works that truly assisted the poor they had organised an NGO called Vidhayak Sansad in 1979,

5154 Economic and Political Weekly December 16, 2006

functioning in the urban slums of Dahisar near Mumbai. While – a federation of trade unions coordinating all activities in rural
organising camps for the youth, they learnt about bondedness Maharashtra.
among the tribals. They filed a Public Interest Litigation and were However, by the early 1990s, the samiti found that its members
able to “liberate” some bonded workers, in 1982. SJS was formed had little interest in its activities. The general decline of mobilisation
for this liberated bonded labour to enable them find a means to of the rural poor by its constituents affected the samiti. Addi-
survive despite the opposition from their erstwhile patrons. tionally, a loose federation of trade unions created difficulties
Presently SJS has a membership of 1,00,000. in ensuring participation. Though all units of the samiti were trade
SJS differs from the other NPPFs. SS and in its early stages unions, some were also part of NGOs creating tensions among
KS, were ideologically guided movements that raised structural the members. Also, the samiti, not a registered organisation, used
issues. SJS and the KS later were mobilising tribal migrants in the office of the Hind Mazdoor Sangha affiliated to the socialists
the fringes of urban areas, who had left tribal districts, and were in the Janata Dal. Some constituents did not want an affiliation
now working in salt pans, brick kilns and quarries as bonded to a mainstream party. Additionally there was confusion as to
labour. Thus their demands were not concerned with access to whether the task of the samiti was only related to EGS activities
land. This changed focus was also related to their philosophy or to mobilise all agricultural workers. Some groups were only
of making the workers “free” to work as labour in an unorganised mobilising the rural poor for EGS while others had a larger
setting. Thus their strategy was to demand from the state the agenda. The Parishad and the Panchayat wanted the issue of
constitutional right towards workers/labour. minimum wages to be the critical demand. This demand was
They thus concentrated towards building public opinion through connected to the strategy to build a revolutionary movement, a
the media and conducted professional classes for training social position not accepted by other constituents leading to ambiguity
workers and labour. SJS’s initial struggles were related to es- of the samiti’s role.
tablishing the proof that there existed bonded labour before it Despite these grave differences, the Samiti did agitate and
liberated them. Only after years of their struggle and litigation initiate new campaigns across the state and raise issues regarding
did the government accept the existence of the bonded labour EGS in the assembly. In 1982, the samiti demanded parity of
in the state. EGS wages to agricultural wages. To this end it organised, a one-
While the earlier mentioned NPPFs focused on political con- day strike by 75,000 EGS workers and also a state wide agitation
sciousness for revolution through EGS and theorised on the was initiated on October 22 1982 in which one-lakh workers
exploitation of tribals, and were also not averse to using violence participated. It resulted in the scaling-up of the minimum wages.
to realise their goals, for the SJS, the goal was creating awareness In November 1983, the samiti organised 138 public meetings,
regarding rights already granted to labour through peaceful 109 meetings of leaders/representatives, 24 public representa-
protests and by creating public opinion. Employment under EGS tions and seven public demonstrations. This activity helped them
was a substitute arrangement, until they attained these rights. incorporate maternity benefits into EGS Act.
Unlike the earlier NPPFs, SJS also participated in panchayat The samiti’s agenda in its early years was dominated by a
elections and in later years, also aligned itself to mainstream philosophy of trade unionism – an agenda of the two promoters.
parties and to international NGOs.7 (The SJS believes that this The samiti was concerned about issues of proper measurement
political space helps them obtain additional EGS work sites.) of the work, timely wage payments, bonus and other gratuities,
The SJS shared some common features with other NPPFs since crèche and drinking water. The samiti also demanded that EGS
EGS was a means to achieve its goals. However, the SJS is an works be included in the category of construction works, which
issue-based organisation and used the EGS in transforming the are paid at higher rates, as most EGS works, such as pajhar-talao,
existing patron/employer-client (bonded labour) relations into nala-bunding, making wells, road construction officially declared
contractual ones. The liberated poor are trained to believe in their to be construction activities.8 In 1984, the samiti demanded that
freedom, dignity, self-esteem, self-reliance and gender equality migrant workers be given travel allowance, ensure that part
for which they have to attain rights; civil, socio-cultural and payment be made in kind with good quality food.
economic. Vivek Pandit in a interview on February 22, narrates Till 1987 the samiti was able to organise sit down strikes, ‘jail
the story of Anita Dhangda: bharo’, form unions of muster clerks assistants and arrange a joint
I wish you could meet Anita Dhangda, the first bonded woman conference of EGS and agricultural workers. As a result, it could
to be elected as a representative in a district government. Born reduce delays in the execution of EGS works and ensure that
into a bonded family, her father died young. In 1989 Anita backlog in payment of higher wages was paid and unemployment
approached our union to help free her family. We registered a
formal complaint against the landlord. He stopped all work and allowance speeded up, and provident fund introduced for casual
food for Anita and her family. We mobilised the surrounding labourers. When in 1987, the government proposed an amend-
villages, who confronted the landlord, and we succeeded. Anita ment of the EGS Act, the Samiti was able to organise protests.
and 22 of her family members gained their freedom.Like other After 1988, the samiti’s activities decreased. As Prakash Shinde
NPPFs, SJS, organises processions, gheraoes and roadblocks. of the Shetkari Shetmajoor Panchayat acknowledges in
While SJS has helped more than 6,000 bonded labour to gain their an interview on August 12, 2003,
freedom, others have been freed voluntarily by their patrons as
a result of this struggle. In 1988 the wages were made equivalent to agricultural wages.
Thus we were left with no issue to fight. Also the organisations
had lost the battle to stop the change in the Act which introduced
Samanvaya Samiti private contractors in executing EGS works. This defeat affected
In the post Emergency period, the people’s movements all of us.
recognised the need to unite to fight the state’s divide and rule Issues like definition of public works and programme for
policy. In 1981, the Parishad and Shetkari Shetmajoor Panchayat sustainable growth for generating long-term employment hardly
provided the leadership in the formation of the Samanvaya Samiti came up for discussion. The government had introduced new

Economic and Political Weekly December 16, 2006 5155

programmes such as Jawahar Rojgar Yojana and Employment Shramik Mukti Dal had visualised a plan for constructing small
Assurance Scheme, which paid higher wages than EGS. Also and medium dams to ensure continuous access to water for the
localised problems were not addressed by the samiti, which made small and marginal farmers. Can these experiments be made part
organisations lose interest. of the Act? Can local communities decide what kind of public
works they wish to have and why? Can such programmes be part
Conclusion of local democratic experiments? Paradoxically, interest in these
concepts has now increased. And yet the experiments in
In the 1970s, in Maharashtra, NPPFs emerged around the issue Maharashtra are not taken to heart as the newly formed National
of mobilising of the rural poor to provide them guaranteed Rural Employment Guarantee Act suggests. It is time that there
employment. In the course of this mobilisation the NPPFs defined is mobilisation across the country so that this concept is now
the nature of exploitation faced by the dalits, tribals, landless introduced across India incorporating the visions with which the
and small peasants. Leaders who had socialist and communist rural poor fought for its implementation. EPW
ideologies led these NPPFs. Through their struggles these NPPFs
were able to convert a drought relief programme into a permanent Email: shajikalam@hotmail.com
on demand employment programme and ensure that the workers
obtained entitlements similar to urban industrial workers. These Notes
NPPFs also raised issues regarding reorganisation of agriculture [I am grateful to the late Ajit Sardar of Yukrand and D S Deshpande of LNP
in Maharashtra, through land reform/land ceiling acts and dis- for making available their personal archives for this research. I would also
tribution of wasteland, and the way EGS could be used to create like to thank Sujata Patel for guiding me through the research and helping
sustainable public works. Also they interrogated the conception me write the report on which this paper is based and thank Rohini Sahni
for editing the earlier version of my paper. I would also like to thank Mick
of democracy in practice and initiated organisational changes to Moore and Anuradha Joshi for comments and observations.]
ensure local participation and non-hierarchical practices. 1 A review of the organisations in the Samanvaya Samiti revealed a list of
The Emergency affected the mobilisation of the NPPFs, which 45 organisations, although Acharya (1990) suggests that it had 109 member
revived after the Act was passed in 1978. But the Emergency organisations. A preliminary study of these 45 revealed that many were
had inaugurated a new political situation, that of alignment of either splinter or branch of some key primary organisations. Out of the
mainstream political parties against the Congress Party. This various NPPFs, five were selected which were the most active in using
EGS to mobilise workers covering the two time periods.
affected the NPPFs, which became divided on whether to join 2 Gramin Shramik is the offical journal of Lal Nishan Party.
these parties. Both Shramik Sangathan and Yukrand were victims 3 The prominent youth leaders of Yukrand were Kumar Saptarshi, Ajit
of this phenomenon. Sardar, Shantaram Pandhere, Subhash Lomte, Ranga Rachure, Hussain
I have argued that the formation of Samanvaya Samiti was the Dalwai, Madhu Mohite, Nalini Pandit, Ratnakar Mahajan among others.
next important landmark in the growth of NPPFs. This samiti 4 Letter to members of Yukrand, undated, files of year 1982-83 Yukrand
Files (Sardar Archives)
was promoted and controlled by the Parishad and the panchayat. 5 The prominent members of the organisation were Kumar Shiralkar, Ananth
They were able to ensure that minimum rights of urban industrial Phadke, Manohar Deenanath, Ashok Manohar, Vikram Kanhere, Bharat
organised labour be granted to the EGS workers. This limited Patankar, and Chaya Datar among others.
aim once achieved the samiti lost its momentum. The divisions 6 The majority of the tribal population concentrated in Dhule, Thane, Raigad
of the parent groups also affected the samiti. and Chandrapur districts. In 1971, Thane had 67.28 per cent of tribal
population while Dhule had 40 per cent. More than 90 per cent lived below
In the early 1980s new groups emerged which drew upon the poverty line.
earlier radicalism but were being defined by the new situation 7 Vivek Pandit shifted from Janata Party to the Congress and recently fought
in Maharashtra. First, the state was becoming increasingly urban. elections on Shiv Sena ticket.
Second, the state was providing target-oriented alternate 8 Many of the EGS construction works had higher wages than agricultural
programmes for the poor. This has divided the rural poor into works. However these EGS works received wages of the lowest agricultural
zone. SS raised this issue and demanded that these works be paid according
those who are below poverty line and those who are not. Thus to the nature of the work.
organisations found little interest among the poor for EGS. Third,
from 1987 onwards, the government was encouraging organisations
to be converted into NGOs to help deliver development
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5156 Economic and Political Weekly December 16, 2006