15-05-2013
The Hindu
In Malkangiri, losing the fight for hearts and minds
Panchayati raj representatives in the
Naxal-af f ected district have resigned en masse to protest the apathy to their
development needs, but the Odisha government remains unmoved.
Last
month, 65 representatives of panchayati raj nstitutions in Malkangiri, Odisha,
resigned en masse protesting against the apathy of the State government. All
Adivasis, their principal demands have been the extension of an irrigation
canal, road repair, and the supply of drinking water to villages. They had been
making representations to the State Government and meeting officials but to no
avail. Even after they resigned, Bhubaneswar has hardly taken note of the grave
constitutional and governance crisis this has caused. What would the reaction
have been had this happened in say Jammu and Kashmir?
Tackling Naxals
Panchayat raj institutions are
integral to our constitutional edifice. No minister or bureaucrat from
Bhubaneswar has decided to visit the district to establish an interface with
the elected adivasi leaders. What can be more insensitive?
In early 2009, the Central Government decided
on a significant initiative to deal with rising Maoist violence. Here, the
deployment of Central forces was increased and States given support to add to
their capability in coping with Maoist violence. The expectation was that a
grid pattern of deployment of Central forces, supported by special forces with
deep penetration capability, would facilitate developmental and governance
initiatives. Affected districts were provided assistance under the Integrated
Action Plan (IAP), which was one more method of gap-funding after the Backward
Regions Grant Fund (BRFG). Besides, the districts were given additional funds
under various Centrally- sponsored schemes. The strategy has worked wherever
State governments have been able to benefit from Central assistance. Where the
State administration is disinterested, the Central effort has yielded limited
benefits.
Neither money nor security forces individually
or together can win the hearts and minds of people, if money remains unspent
and all that people see are large numbers of heavily armed personnel. This is
precisely what happened to Malkangiri four years later. The State Government
has been unable to create capacity or improve governance. Development schemes
can hardly be implemented. Ministers and bureaucrats are unwilling to visit the
district to personally take charge, review implementation or assuage the
frustration of the Adivasis. There is a case for a rethink on our strategy to
deal with what the Prime Minister has termed the biggest internal security
threat to India.
Underutilised
funds
During a recent visit to Malkangiri I
met the Adivasi leaders. They were simple and straightforward in talking about
the issues that affected them and expressed a great sense of helplessness at
having been cheated by the government. They no longer trust it. Ironically,
Malkangiri is among the top three Naxal-affected districts of the country with
60 per cent Adivasis and 81 per cent people below poverty line. The district
gets generous funds under Central schemes as well as under BRGF and IAP yet
fares poorly on all development indicators besides reporting extremely poor
utilisation of Central funds. Malkangiri’s misery is being perpetuated by the
insensitivity, inaction and neglect of a callous State government.
Unfortunately, civil society has little time for the Adivasis. Innocent
children are dying of diseases, youth are unemployed, women are vulnerable,
farmers do not have access to irrigation and there is an atmosphere of bedlam
and unprecedented institutional decay.
Poor
infrastructure
Under the Mahatma Gandhi National
Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the district has received Rs.35.39 crore
till February this year, but only Rs.14.78 crore has been spent. Out of the
3,024 units sanctioned under the Indira Awaas Yojana housing scheme, about 30
houses have been built. Under the IAP, the district has received Rs.85 crore
out of which Rs.30 crore remains unspent. Malkangiri has as many as 36 health
centres apart from the district headquarters hospital. But they remain
non-functional as at least 40 posts of doctors, including specialists, are
vacant against the sanctioned strength of 87.
Roads are in bad shape and people have
been repeatedly blocking them to voice their anger, but to no avail. Road
projects worth Rs.460 crore, of the Public Works Department, and Rs.630 crore
under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) are yet to take off. Only 35
per cent of the funds under PMGSY have been used. Ironically, the Chief
Minister holds the Works portfolio, which is supposed to maintain all major
roads and look after the Water Resources department. Political executives from
Bhubaneswar hardly ever visit the district. When they do, they never spend a
night even at the fortified district headquarters. When Ministers, secretaries
and bureaucrats are unwilling to visit the district and senior police officers
move around in helicopters provided by the Central Government for security
reasons, we cannot blame the district officials for their unwillingness to
visit the interiors, particularly after the kidnapping of two Collectors from
the Bastar region. The State Government has failed to build a bridge across the
Gurupriya river that separates the cut-off areas from the mainland of
Malkangiri district. The cut-off areas are essentially the eight gram
panchayats of Kudumulugumma block separated from the mainland district by the
Balimela reservoir constructed in 1977. The dam project separated some 33,400 people
in 151 villages from the Odisha mainland though they are connected on the other
side to Visakhapatnam district in Andhra Pradesh.
Rights
violations
In 2001, the Collector and
Superintendent of Police “ran away” from the district. On the Chief Minister’s
request, the Central Government sent four battalions of Central forces as well
as a helicopter. Money has also been provided for the modernisation of the
police force. The State Government meets the entire expenditure on fighting
Naxalites under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme of the Central
Government. To this, the Central Government has now sanctioned two engineer
battalions to attend to road work in areas where contractors are not taking up
work. Instead of providing security cover, the security forces have become the
only government agency present or visible. There are repeated allegations of
human rights violations. This when the purpose of security cover was to
implement development work and sort out governance issues.
The Centre has poured in funds and
deployed huge numbers of security personnel. But, what does one do if the State
administration fails to implement and tackle governance issues? What if
Ministers and bureaucrats do not carry out routine reviews and inspections? Since
the kidnapping of Collector Vineel Krishna, governance has more or less
collapsed. No development has taken place, fuelling the current crisis that has
forced elected Adivasi leaders to resign.
The Adivasis are simple people, who
have for long tolerated the highhandedness of the administrators and the
police. Now, they have been left to face armed Maoists.
To me, this is a grave constitutional
crisis and all efforts must be made to restore grass-roots democracy here.
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