Interventions : Human Rights Monitoring and Advocacy : National Consultations

Pairvi’s basic mandate as a social change organization lies in initiating the process of policy change as well as strengthening human rights infrastructure in the country and in the poorest of poor states. While the focus of rights advocacy and monitoring has been strengthening human rights infrastructure in the country, specific local/state human rights concerns have also brought into discourse through a variety of measures. The main objective is to initiate discussion and action by various stakeholders on the specific issues and achieve collective action for resolutions of the issues.

National Consultation on SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989

Dalit organizations from 13 states of India demanded proper implementation of SC/ST Act, 1989 and appropriate amendments in the Act from political parties, in a National Consultation organized on SC/ST Act in Delhi on 20th and 21st March 2009. More than 50 dalit organizations and victims of atrocities participated in the two day National Consultation, which was attended by members of National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST), National Commission for Women (NCW) and other prominent social justice experts. Shri P. S. Krishnan, who authored the Act in 1989 as a Secretary of the Ministry of Welfare, speaking at the occasion said that political leadership has failed the dalits and the Act and the purpose of the Act has been defeated by its lackadaisical implementation. He added that justice delayed is justice denied and the dalit activists should focus on asking for Amendments which would ensure expeditious trials of the cases under the Act. He also added that dalit organizations all over the country should making atrocities on dalits an electoral issue. Mr. K. B. Saxena, who reviewed the working of the Act in 2000 on behalf of the NHRC, said that in most of the states, the implementation of the Act has been very poor, and dalits need to take commitments from political parties in the fray for proper implementation of the Act, and ensure that the commitments are complied to when these parties form the government. Ms. Satya Bahen (Member, NCSC) said that the NCSC has given recommendations for proper implementation and amendments in the Act a number of times but successive governments have failed to take notice of this and as a result millions of dalits are facing untouchability and atrocities without sufficient recourse to the law. Ms. Yasmeen Abrar, (Member, NCW) said that dalit women suffer multiple discrimination and atrocity, and do not get adequate relief despite existence of such a law. Mr. Tsering Samphal, (Member, NCST) shared that there is complete lack of awareness among the tribal population to seek the help of the Act and the Commission, which results in very few cases registered in the Commission. Ex- MP and President of Bandhua Majdoor Mukti Sangathan, Shri Swami Agnivesh elaborated on how caste based and fate based system has deprived more than 80% of the population of their constitutional and legal rights. Mr. Sanjay Paswan, (Ex-union Minister) from BJP assured to extend all support to the cause.

The two day Consultation discussed status of implementation of SC/ST Act, 1989 in states of Bihar, Jharkhand, UP, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh, and Delhi. NGOs working with dalits shared elaborated on the poor state of implementation of the Act in these states and the conviction rate is very low to the extent of being 0.1 per cent in Rajasthan. The infrastructure to facilitate the implementation as envisioned in the Act is hardly in existence anywhere. The provision of legal aid and interim relief etc. too is generally denied to the victims. The role of the public prosecutors too came under attack, and the dalit activists said that they act more like defence counsel rather than public prosecutor. It was brought to light that more than 90 per cent cases result in acquittals because of poor handling, flawed FIRs, faulty investigation, and lack of sensitivity on the part of police and civil administration. It was also brought out that in cases of acquittals the government never goes in appeal in the higher courts. Special courts have not been created and there is huge backlog of cases in all the states. Dalit victims also recounted how they have been made to run from pillar to post just to file an FIR, that too is denied in majority of cases and in these circumstances what justice can they expect. Their cases have been languishing in the courts for years adding to their miseries.

The National Consultation demanded that:

• The Act be amended to remove the bar created by SC decision of Gangula Ashok vs. State of Andhra Pradesh (2000), which prevents special courts from taking cognizance of the cases under the Act, unless committed by the Magistrates.
• S.4 of the Act, prescribing punishment for wilful negligence of public servant should be made a cognizable offence, and should also include refusal to file an FIR by the police or file inadequate FIR not attracting proper sections.
• All state variation in implementation of the central Act should be done away with immediately and the Act should have uniform application in all the states.
• State Monitoring and Vigilance Committee and district level committees should be made functional immediately, and there should be proper review of the working of Act in all states. Mechanism for transparency and accountability should be integrated in the Act.
• Legal aid is a right and should not be denied to dalits under any circumstances.
• Provisions be created to strengthen the infrastructure and expeditious trials of cases under SC/ST Act under a time bound manner.
• The recommendations given by National Commission for SC/ST (1998) and National Human Rights Commission (2000) should be implemented immediately.

National Consultation on Review of Durban Declaration and Programme of Action

Pairvi organized a National Consultation on New Delhi. The objective of the Consultation was to review the progress at the national level for the Durban Review Conference. The National Consultation brought together 30 dalit and tribal rights activists from different states who shared the status of dalit rights and tribal communities in their respective state. Mr. K. B. Saxena (Retd. IAS, Land Reforms Commissioner and Social Justice Expert) said that international processes have limited utility in terms of influencing national policies and therefore the dalit organizations should actively build pressure at the national level. It was discussed that how can the condition of dalits can be brought to light at the Durban Review Conference since the government of India has not acknowledged caste discrimination and discrimination against tribals in India as falling within the definition of racism and discrimination based on descent and work. It was urged that CERD should be informed about the prevailing dalit issues in India. Therefore, Consultation concluded with a statement of concern to be shared with the Durban Review Conference. Later Pairvi participated in Durban Review Conference and shared the statement with other participants from India and other countries, along with various other publications.

National Consultation on State of Hunger and Hunger Deaths

A National Consultation on the status of hunger and hunger deaths in the poorest of poor states was held at ISI, New Delhi on 3rd and 4th August. Participants from the 6 states namely Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh participated in the consultation. The Consultation deliberated over grim situation in various states with regard to right to food and also attested to unabated hunger deaths in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar. Participants from the respective states also shared the inability of the govt. to provide help to combat hunger, on the reverse all state governments have categorically denied any hunger death taking place in their respective states. The participants felt that it is highly imperative to conduct an all India study, which might also feed the upcoming National Food Security Act. As the outcome of the Consultation, an all India study exploring magnitude and extent of hunger among the poorest of the poor people was decided to be conducted.

National Consultation on Climate Change with Policy Makers and Public Actors

In the backdrop of the International negotiations on Climate Change at Copenhagen (Denmark) which is scheduled from 7th December to 18th December 2009, a civil society collective of around 40 organization from all over India, many members of Parliament and many representatives from international key actors represented by their Embassies and High Commissions called the upon the developed countries to respect the mandate of Kyoto Protocol and conclude a deal which keeps climate and economic justice, energy and other demands of developing countries in consideration. A National Consultation with Policy Makers and Public Actors titled Towards Consensus on India’s Position on International Negotiations at India International Centre, Delhi, on 23rd November 2009 discussed the implications of climate change on many economic and social aspects of climate change and nuances of international negotiations. Shri Chandrashekhar Sahu, Minister for Agriculture, Labour and Animal Husbandry in Chhattisgarh Government was the chief guest of the Consultation and he said that the agriculture was a subject of huge concern in the climate change debate and it should be given due importance in the negotiations. 
Mr. V. S. Vyas, member of Prime Ministers Economic Advisory Council, delivered the key note address and emphasized that developed countries must take responsibility for historical emissions and compensate the developing countries in the constrained carbon world keeping in mind the principles of justice and equity and common but differentiated responsibility in the Kyoto protocol. He stressed the need of solar energy technology in the coming 10-15 years to reduce emissions in developing countries. Com Abani Roy (MP, Revolutionary Sociality Party) said that the climate change is posing the most serious threat to the survival of the vulnerable people along with similar organic dependence on nature’s cycles and resources including farmers, fisher-folk, pastorals, laborers, artisans, women children etc. Mr. Sanjay Nirupam (MP, INC) appealed to the youth of the country to raise the issue of the climate change. He emphasized that there should be a balance between climate change concerns and development needs. Shri Anil Dave, (MP, Rajya Sabha), said that India should give priority to research and investment on solar energy as it is the best option for India’s emerging energy needs. Mr. P. D. Rai (MP, SDF) and Mr. Pradeep Tamta (MP, INC) emphasized that Himalayan ecosystem has the key of India’s environmental and also economic sustainability and therefore, it should be given appropriate attention in the policymaking. Mr. Digvijay Singh (MP, Independent) stressed that India must stick to its guns and ask for huge reduction by developed countries and adaptation fund. Mr. Om Prakash Yadav (MP, Independent) added that India can be a leader in the struggle against climate change as the agricultural community in India has huge experience in adaptation to tropical and arid conditions.
The Consultation saw an increasing interest among the key international actors to speak to the MPs and civil society on the issues of climate change. Representatives of Annex 1 countries, Denmark (the host for COP 15 Meeting), Australia, Norway, Italy, and developing countries like China, Nepal, Sri Lanka also participated in the Consultation. Mr. Thomas Hahr, First Secretary and Climate Attaché, Royal Danish Embassy said that both developed and developing countries have to be flexible and compromising in their approach to make a deal possible at Copenhagen. He added that recently many developed and developing countries have shown renewed commitment and flexibility in the approach by revising their reduction commitments and declaring national action plans and Denmark is going into negotiations with a very high level of expectations. Mr. Ge Song Xue (Counsellor) and Mr. Qin Hongming (Second Secretary), Embassy of China said that both the countries India and China are sailing on the same boat and we should promote technologies and training to the developing countries and further strengthen the Kyoto Protocol. Ms. Sarah Kirlew, Second Secretary, Australian High Commission shared the recent efforts national and bilateral efforts initiated by new government to reduce emission and its intention to play and key and meaningful role in international negotiations. Dr. Santa Mole, Director International Development Cooperation Office, Embassy of Italy, expressed her high hopes from the COP 15 and said that controlling emissions and coming to an agreement was in the interest of humanity more than the interest of individual countries. Mr. P. R. S. Gunratna, First Secretary, Sri Lanka High Commission, and Mr. Dhan Bahadur Oli, First Secretary, Nepal Embassy called for south-south solidarity. The Consultation also received goodwill message from a number of Ministers and MPs including Shri Kailash Vijayvargiya, Minister Commerce and Industries, S&T and IT, Government of MP, Mr. D. Raja, Mr. Vishnu Bahuguna, Ms. Biplove Thakur. Mr. OM Thanvi, (editor Jansatta) delivered the vote of thanks.

The National Consultation was culmination of a campaign by a civil society organizations led by CECOEDECON, PAIRVI, South Asia Dialogue for Ecological Democracy, AASHA, FTN Asia, Gene Campaign  and IDS Jaipur.