The Indian scene
Having proposed a fossil fuel free society, how does one go about achieving it? It will certainly not be a demand for statehood under the present constitution following all the political ‘wheeling-dealing’ that goes on in present day Indian politics. In fact, it may be best to avoid all present day parliamentary political parties.
Since 1984, all the parliamentary parties have abandoned the poor. In 1984, in Bhopal
On the side of the poor, there are three major forces and a host of small ones. They are the Naxalites, NAPM and the Dalit movement. Among the smaller ones, but nevertheless very important, are the women’s movements, anti-communal groups, Christian and Islamic dalits, atheists, rationalists and peoples’ science activists. Many individuals, professionals like social scientists, engineers, architects, urban planners are also on the side of the poor. In the struggle for the poor, there are three aspects: assurance, relief and solution. All these groups are a source of assurance to the poor, because they have stood by them under very difficult situations of exploitation and oppression. In giving relief, the Naxalites have been more successful than others. Naxalites have helped to raise wages of the poorest people e.g. tendu leaves collection, beedi makers, miners etc. They also protected the poor from oppression, rape, humiliation, bonded labour etc. As to the solution, none have a credible and realisable vision. The Naxalites offer only a theoretical solution. It fails to address adequately important contemporary issues like gender and caste discrimination, communalism, ecology, climate change and energy.
The United Front of the Stakeholders
Given this situation, how does one begin? One way is to begin at the local level. Local can be as small as the village or a locality in a town and as big as an ecozone or state - as defined above. The next step would be to identify and engage in a dialogue with all the stakeholders.
Who are the stakeholders? They can be individuals, classes or social groups and political parties. Among individuals, there is a large variety. The only criteria for them being: either their previous engagement or their present willingness to engage with the poor in their struggle. These people may be ordinary people such as school teachers, bank employees, or professionals such as social scientists, scientists, architects, engineers, journalists and authors or any one else. Among classes and social groups there are trade unions and organisations of dalits, women, tribals, victims of development and so on. Although it has been said above that the parliamentary parties have become anti people; recently, due to rise of people’s movements, some parties outside the government have shown a slight interest. However, they are likely to switch over the moment they become part of the government. There are several formations like NAPM, which are political and they have been on the side of the people. Naxalites are unlikely to join openly because of their involvement in illegal armed struggles.
What will be the agenda? The main agenda for humanity for the next thirty years or so is to heal the earth of the degradation caused by capitalism. To do this, peoples’ struggles against these forces of capitalism will have to continue. Almost everywhere it will also be a struggle against exploitation and oppression; and a struggle for justice and equality. Parallel to this, there would have to be initiatives of designing and execution of regional plans for a fossil fuel free future.
What is proposed here is to take the idea forward through an organisation of the United Front of all the stakeholders. It is not enough just to have an e-group -as is the present trend amongst civil society groups. In terms of effectiveness, its limitations are many. A genuine engagement and ground level action is what is required. Singur and Nandigram in West Bengal have shown the power of this kind of action. Even there, it lacks a concrete alternative plan.
A victory like Singur or Nandigram is a powerful booster of energy for people. Though, there is always the threat that existing political interests will want to gain mileage out of such “victories”. Instead of allowing this to happen, there should be a genuine peoples’ plan for a fossil fuel free alternative. This plan should be so designed such that it is possible to implement it incrementally with immediate relief and benefit to the stakeholders; particularly those who are adversely affected by the stopping of such anti people development projects. Sections of such people for example are: construction workers, individuals who have lost their lands and livelihoods or so called development refugees. The plans should offer immediate relief and employment so as to avoid trauma and the possibility of rifts amongst the stakeholders.
So what should one do in the here and now to move towards such a future?
The case of one such region, the Karavalis, is taken as an illustrative model. It is undoubtedly a sketchy and tentative proposal. For, a genuine workable proposal can only be prepared by a forum of local skate holders and their facilitators, who have been part of existing struggles.
The Karavalis
The Karavalis include the three districts of the coastal plains of Karnataka. Ecologically and historically the Kasargod district of Kerala has always been part of the Karavalis. The four districts are spread across an area of 20721sq.kms. with a population of 5.56 million and a population density of 360. Kannada is the official language. Most people can speak Kannada and the local languages. The language of Uttara Kannada is Kannada and Konkani. Konkani is also spoken by the Catholics and Goud Saraswat Brahmins (GSBs) all over the region. Tulu is spoken in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi. Malayalam and Tulu are spoken in Kasargod.
District | Headquarters | Population (2001) | Area (km) | Density (/km) |
Dakshin Kannada | Mangalore | 1,896,403 | 4559 | 416 |
Udupi | Udupi | 1,109,494 | 3879 | 286 |
Uttar Kannada | Karwar | 1,353,299 | 10,291 | 132 |
Kasargod | Kasargod | 1,203,342 | 1992 | 604 |
TOTAL | | 5,562,538 | 20721 | 359.51 |
The Natural Economy of the Karavalis
The word ‘natural economy’ here does not mean primitive or pre capitalist economy. It is used to distinguish from the economic activity that serves distant interests, like refineries, power plants, naval bases etc.
The basis of the economy is fishing and agriculture. Agriculture crops here are mainly rice, coconut, areca and cashew. Hence, there are rice mills, oil mills and cashew processing factories as major allied industries. Apart from working in these industries, the families of the poor landless supplement their income by rolling beedis. There are big beedi manufacturers - like the famous Ganesh Beedies - whose main work is labeling, packing and marketing. The industry itself works on a ‘putting out’ system. Another source of subsistence is the forest. It provides fuel and a host of minor forest produce that supplement the economy of the poor.
The natural economy has been under stress due to the pressure of neo liberal policies. Cash crops are replacing food crops. This is also because; the younger generations within farming families prefer a lucrative job in the service industry, over the family’s traditional occupation of farming. Many rice fields have fallen fallow; whereas, the production of areca, to provide for the growing gutka market, is increasing. Because of anti smoking laws and the campaigns to raise awareness regarding the hazards of smoking, chewing of gutka is slowly replacing beedis. In spite of heavy rains, one can see sprinkler irrigation in areca plantations. Chemical inputs to agriculture are also increasing. Deforestation has taken place extensively. Monocrops have been introduced and biodiversity has been reduced.
The Extended Economy
The economy while it was self-sufficient did not generate enough money. So education and out migration have been important factors. The region has a fairly old history of Christianity and hence an old history of printing, books and education. The region has a high literacy rate, has produced important literati, and bankers. The region is home to four national banks! Udupi hotels are the other side of the extended economy. When the economy of the Arabian Gulf nations boomed after 1971, there was significant out migration, particularly from areas, with high Muslim populations, like Bhatkal. It is important to remember that conversion to Islam occurred mainly among artisan castes. Hence, there already existed a high proportion of skilled workers among them. However, if taken as a whole, out migration occurred from across the region and from all sections of the population.
The Undesirable Development
The sea port at Mangalore and the naval base at Karwar have been around for some time. In fact the port even has an un-operational barge-mounted power plant. What is worrying to most environmentalists and to the local people is the glut of power plants being planned and to some extent executed.
The close proximity to the sea works in favour of such decisions for the following reasons: 1. Import of coal from Australia
The opposition to these plants is mainly based on the following arguments: 1. Good agricultural land is being taken away 2. It will cause irreparable environmental damage to one of the most environmentally sensitive regions - Western Ghats . The importance of the Western Ghats as an ecological hotspot cannot be overstated. Apart from its unique flora and fauna, it is the source of all the major rivers flowing eastward, thus, providing water security to the whole of Southern India .
The History of the Struggle
The trade union movement in the region is fairly strong. The fishermen’s union, the Beedi workers’ union are traditional unions. The Mangalore port workers also have a union. Bank and insurance employees’ unions, although a part of national unions, have a strong presence here. By and large the unions have been looking after the interests of their constituency in terms of wages, provident fund, health care etc. The Beedi workers have won impressive gains in spite of being spread so thinly across the region. However, on the whole, there is little concern for the region or the larger crisis of capitalism and future of the society. This is understandable, as it has not been on their agenda; the daily struggles for survival take up all time and energy.
There have been big struggles against refineries, power plants and the Mangalore Special Economic Zone proposals. While the industries have created wealth for the national and local rich, it has come at an enormous expense to the people and to the ecology of the region. People were displaced while building the port; some of them were displaced again while building the refinery and the Konkan Railway. A holistic approach to the struggle was taken by preparing a document called KESA-Kodachadri Ecologically Sensitive Area. It was a proactive move on the part of local stakeholders proposing the area be declared as ecologically sensitive. It was meant to prevent the setting up of ecologically unviable industries in the region under the existing Indian laws.
The process of preparing this proposal was very participatory and democratic. All the stakeholders in the struggle were consulted and were kept in the picture through out. Local and national experts pooled their knowledge and put up a very strong case. The document was presented to the Union and State Govt. Predictably it is hanging fire; while the ecology of the region continues to pay the price. While it was an excellent exercise, it was not thought out fully. It fell short of follow up action at the community level combined with a lack of persistent and consistent follow-up at official levels.
One of the problems was the protagonists’ main aim; which was, to engage with the State - asking it to implement its own laws. There was an implicit belief in the possibility and viability of the ‘Welfare State’. This also led them to engage with local MLAs and religious pontiffs. While this provided an opportunity to work and engage with many professionals, it did not help in taking the work forward. So where does one begin?
The Karavali Regional Initiative Group
People can only start with what has already been achieved and go on to build on its strength. In the Karavalis, there are already, several good precedents. The organisation that has been successfully waging a struggle against the power plant at Nandikur for the last 20 years; the struggle against the refinery; the struggle against the Mangalore Special Economic Zone; the consortium of KESA; and a host of existing social and class organisations that have successfully launched various struggles in the past. Some of these organisations and groups are:
- Beedi workers association
- Cashew workers’ association
- Tile workers’ association
- The taxi and rickshaw drivers’ union
- Bank and insurance employees’ unions
- Port workers’ union
- MRPL workers’ union
- Dalit Sangharsh Samiti
- Jamat e Islam e Hind
- Karnataka Forum for Dignity
- Jana Jagruti Samiti, Nandikur (movement against the thermal power plant)
- Krishi Bhumi Samrakshana Samiti, Mangalore (movement against Mangalore SEZ)
- Jana Para Vedike
- Parisaraskatara Okkutu
- Komu Souhadrya Vedike
A Karavali regional initiative group can be started with these stakeholders and it can grow incrementally. It can begin by taking stock of the situation; identifying stake holders; engaging with them; building strategies to carry forward the on going struggles; and start a planning group for the alternatives.
The action plan can be designed to:
- Encourage and support ecologically unviable industries through a switch over to ecologically sustainable enterprise.
- Develop a plan to restore the natural economy. The plan should include rehabilitation of the workers of the undesirable industries.
- In the natural economy, eliminate the neo liberal influences. Thus, increase the food acreage and reduce areca acreage. Reduce chemical inputs and go organic.
- Increase the forest cover and its bio diversity.
- Stop overexploitation of the sea through the use of big trawlers for fishing.
- Develop industries based on local resources like bamboo and timber to replace products based on fossil fuels.
Some Issues
One of the major problems in this work is the difficulty for the people to get out of their present mindsets and think of a future with a changed scenario. For example, the unions have been mainly concerned about improving their lot within the system. Now they have to be prepared to participate in evolving alternatives. This is because; many of their jobs will be redundant soon. Similarly, many young people are aspiring for careers in the service sector, particularly in banking and software. This is proving to be a bubble that has already burst in the advanced capitalist countries. So the group has to work towards building awareness on the issue. Then the plan has to include a list of livelihood opportunities based on fossil fuel free resources. The task of relocation is always painful and the group has to work intensively in preparing workers for alternative jobs; supporting them and their families during the interim period.
As has been said before, this is just one person’s vision and the actual plan and activity can only be decided by the local group.
See also
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