SIX MONTHLY REPORT

AUGUST 2001 - JANUARY 2002

A. INTRODUCTION

In this report you will find the following matters:

1. The Annual Report of the People’s Organizations (POs),

2. Village Panchayat Elections,

3. LAHRC’S Interventions in the field of Human Rights Violations,

4. The Tribal Lawyers,

5. Indigenous People’s Day Celebration,

6. Meetings of Gram Sabha,

7. Human Rights Day Celebration,

8. Net working

9. Jail visit

10. Award for the LAHRC

11. JAI ADIVASI Calendar

12. Effort towards sustainability

13. Contents of the calendar and

14. Looking to the Future.

B. VARIOUS ACTIVITIES

I. ANNUAL REPORTS of the People’s Organizations (POs):

As per the Constitution of the POs, a general body meeting of all the members of the respective talukas were decided by the Governing Body according to the convenience of the respective talukas. By August the General Body Meetings were held in all seven talukas. The purpose was to make the members aware of the various activities taken up by the POs during the year and to instill in them the ownership of the POs. Each one had to come for the meeting at their own expense. Many people attended the meetings and took active part in conducting the meetings. For many who are non members of the POs and politicians it was a great surprise to see many coming at their own expenses to attend the meetings. When political meetings or cooperative societies meetings take place, refreshments are part of the agenda. But our POs are doing away with this way of conducting meetings in order to avoid unnecessary expenses and to save some money for the POs funds.

During these meetings, the people came forward to share their experiences about the POs. Many said that it is after the POs came into existence that the people realize the power of unity. By coming together and planning out things for the development of their villages, they have been able to achieve things. The government officials also have come forward to help them out in various government welfare schemes. The POs have helped to foster the tribal identity and unity. The POs have also helped the people to realize the value in preserving the natural resources and to protect the environment. Slowly the culture and customs of the tribals are being given prominence in their celebrations. Most of all, a sense of dignity of being tribals is gaining momentum. So now they greet each other, “JAI ADIVASI” meaning hail adivasi. They also say, “We are proud to be Adivasis and Indians.”

A SUMMARISED REPORT OF THE POs TAKEN FROM THEIR ANNUAL REPORTS (covering up to March 2001):

ADIVASI SARVANGI VIKAS SANGH, SURAT

(PEOPLE’S ORGANIZATION FOR INTEGRATED TRIBAL DEVELOPMENT)

The Adivasi Society of South Gujarat has felt the need of uniting themselves by forming an organization called ADIVASI SARVANGI VIKAS SANGH (People’s Organization for Integrated Tribal Development). This association is made up of people’s organizations at work in the predominantly Tribal villages of seven Talukas of Surat District (Nizar, Uchhal, Songadh, Vyara, Mandvi, Mangrol and Umarpada).

These People’s Organizations have already been set up in 372 villages out of the 783 tribal villages of these seven talukas and they are already at work to solve local problems. These associations have 18,365 members out of whom 50% are women. Their contributions have created a Fund around Rs.12,00,000.

Aim of People’s Organizations

The aim is to see that the Tribal Society through its People’s Organizations is empowered, develops a sense of its own identity, achieves a degree of self-management, protects natural resources, becomes financially autonomous, and thus creates a new and just society.

To achieve the above mentioned long term goals, the following immediate steps are proposed:

Preservation of the Tribal Society and its Identity

Tribal people must take pride on their own society, must develop a sense of solidarity to set up a secular and non-partisan pressure group that may encourage Tribal traditional way of life and may revive Tribal traditional forms of justice and provide development-oriented education to Tribal people. At the same time care must be taken to detect, expose and counteract those forces that want to divide the Adivasis.

Local self government

The People’s Organization (PO) of each village raises the social and political awareness of the villagers. It makes them aware of their joint responsibility to have an effective local administration. The POs acquaint the villagers with the provisions of the Panchayati Raj Act. This joint responsibility can best be carried out by making sure that the local assembly (gram sabha) is convoked and makes the local administrators accountable to it.

Control of natural resources.

There are plenty of natural resources in this area. They are not properly administered and conserved. It is necessary to use them keeping the eco-system in mind. They must not be squandered but preserved for the benefit of future generations. To achieve this goal, our Tribal Society must develop an ecological awareness that may empower our people to control natural resources.

Preservation of Human Rights, Justice and Equality Between the Sexes.

Tribal people must know the provisions made by law to preserve human rights and thus develop a greater awareness and sensibility towards human rights. More specifically, the rights of women must be upheld with the help of our lawyers and the Tribal Elders. If necessary, offenders must be taken to court.

5. Economic Self-sufficiency.

To achieve economic self-sufficiency, it is necessary to control and use better the existing natural resources, on the one hand, and, on the other, it is necessary to abolish unfair trade practices, as well as social evils that squander the limited family resources. At the same time, it is necessary to develop saving habits, setting up if necessary, credit cooperative societies. Our association should help government to bring about appropriate legislations.

Create a Demand System.

Central and State governments have set up schemes and projects to help marginalized people. They often remain in paper. Our Association must ensure that such schemes reach those for whom they are meant. This will often mean to fight against corruption in all its forms, like taking bribes and indulging in other unlawful practices. Our Association should see to it that the benefits of government reach out to the poorest.

This is a high aim that will demand the whole-hearted cooperation of the Tribal community.

What is a People’s Organization? Who can join it?

It is a local organization of the Tribal Society. It is run by and for and with the Adivasis. Any adult tribal above the age of 18 who loves and wishes their Tribal Society well may join a People’s Organization.

The life membership fee is Rs.101.

Why this Fee? There is need of money to run these organizations. Fees, donations, and other contributions provide the financial resources. People are proud to see that they themselves provide for the maintenance of their own organizations – and thus, make sure that they maintain their freedom and independence.

To achieve these long and short term goals, a few concrete activities have been identified by the POs.

1. Increase the number of villages and the members

2. Awareness programmes in the entire area through training and cultural teams

3.Activate the GRAM SABHAs in the villages through the help of the members of the POs that will help the village development

4.Having regular trainings in the villages besides having house to house visit and having group activities like cultural programmes in the villages

5.To catch the young and the elders/leaders of the tribal society who are being misled either by the fundamentalist groups or vested interests, in order to work together for the IDENTITY, UNITY and PROSPERITY of the tribal society

6.To help people benefit from the various welfare schemes of the Government and to ensure that these reach the needy

7.To slowly start activities like saving groups on micro and macro level, watershed, marketing facilities village forests besides encouraging plantation of trees in the fields, around the house etc.

8.To identify various human rights violations in the area and to take up these matters in various ways like: a) build group pressures to solve them, or b) take up the matters as Public Interest Litigations in the Courts, or c) conduct campaigns through letter writings, press release etc.

9.To do networking with like-minded groups-GOs as well as NGOs.

TABLE: I - PRESENT STATUS OF THE POs (as in the annual meeting in March,2001)

S. No.	Name of PO	Total Villages	PO Villages	PO members	POs fund Rs.	No.of GB members
1.	Adivasi Sarvangi Vikas Sangh, NIZAR	89	66	1,935	1,48,952	15
2.	Adivasi Sarvangi Vikas Sangh, Uchhal	68	52	2,709	1,84,619	15
3.	Adivasi Sarvangi Vikas Sangh, Songadh	177	74	4,780	2,31,275	15
4.	Adivasi Sarvangi Vikas Sangh, Vyara	149	58	3,226	2,21081	15
5.	Adivasi Sarvangi Vikas Sangh, Mandvi	148	56	2,398	1,72,416	15
6.	Adivasi Sarvangi Vikas Sangh, Mangrol	89	14	467	1,27,965	9
7.	Adivasi Sarvangi Vikas Sangh, Umarpada	63	52	2,850	1,45,911	15
	TOTAL	783	372	18,365	12,32,219	99

NB: The number of Governing Body Members will increase as the number of villages increase.

Some Observations:

There are more villages wanting to join the POs.
Some Governing Body Members (GBM) are more active than the others.
Some of the GBMs join the staff for trainings and campaigns in the villages.
Some of them come forward to take up leadership in running the POs.
More PO members are availing themselves of the Welfare Schemes of the Governments. Either the governing body members or the village representatives help the needy ones with the support and guidance of the field staff members.
People are showing interest in the activities of the POs.
The members of the POs are showing interest in trainings and asking for it.
People are putting their trust in the POs.
Efforts are made to increase the fund of the POs through various means.
The POs take interest in the development of their villages and of the area by taking active part in the GRAM SABHA-village assembly. In many places they make sure that the gram sabhas are regularly held.
Some decisions with regard to holding Governing Body meetings or Representatives meetings or important celebrations in the areas or taking up important issues or preparing agenda for various meetings are done by them in consultation with the field staff members. They also conduct such meetings and take necessary decisions as required with the assistance of the field staff members.
The Governing Body members pay the Tribal lawyers their stipend every month. During such occasions, they also seek a detailed report of their activities.
The Governing Body members and the village representatives attend various “LOK DARBAR”- a forum where the people can represent their grievances to the government authorities and politicians to seek solutions.
Slowly the POs have also started meeting the elected members and represent their grievances and request them to take necessary actions.
We can more less categorize the seven POs into three types:

In Vyara, Songadh and Mandvi, the POs are more active compared to the other centers. They show more interest and a feeling that it is our PO is very much felt there. The motivation to do things is better. The cooperation of the POs for various activities is also better. The POs are eager to learn, to do and to work for the identity, unity and prosperity of their tribal society. The PO members command a lot of respect and goodwill among the people and the government authorities.
In Nizar, Uchhal and Umarpada, the POs are rather tepid. Their interest varies. On certain occasions, they are very active but on some important occasions or for representing the issues to the respective authorities or elected members, they do not come forward very easily.
In Mangrol – Zankhvav -, due to the constant interference of the Assembly Member not many villages have joined the PO. In this taluka there are only 37 tribal villages. The people need to be motivated better. The presence of non tribals in vast majority is also a handicap

· More attention needs to be given to the Centres which are in category B and C.

TABLE: II- Success in obtaining Basic amenities: (up to March 2001).

Basic amenities

Name of Centre

Total

Nizar

Uchhal

Songadh

Vyara

Mandvi

Man-grol

Umar-

pada

I. Road

a. Tarred

b. metal

II. Bus

(Villages)

III. Water

a. Hand pump(new)

b. open well

c. Hand pump

(repaired)

109

107

IV. Education

a. New class rooms

b.Additional School

c. New Teachers

d. Admission

given

e. Per-primary

started

V. Electricity

a. D.P.

B. New Elc. Met.

c. Elec. Poles

VI. Health

a. Appl.for new

Health Centre

b. Help for T.B

c. Help for

Pregnanes

d. Help for

Handicaped

e. Health camps

653/14

TABLE: III- People who availed themselves of the Government welfare schemes:(up to March 2001)

Particulars	Name of the centre							Total
	Nizar	Uchhal	Son- gadh	Vyara	Mandvi	Man-grol	Umar- pada
1. New Houses Houses repaired	45 -	29 -	- 40	23 -	- 10	12 -	23 -	132 50
2. Ration cards New Duplicates Name added	- 36 -	- 31 38	- - -	- - 24	- - 30	- - 8	- - 7	- 67 107
3. Vidhva sahaye	19	18	31	15	28	12	7	130
4. Kuvarbai nun mameru	24	19	2	23	12	18	-	98
5. Dikri Rudy	12	21	1	32	27	14	-	104
6. Group Insurance	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	10
7. Self Empolyment Schemes	23	-	-	-	2	-	3	28
8. House numbering	36	-	21	118	17	-	-	192
9. Milk Cattles	-	4	-	38	-	-	32	74
10. Agri. helps	130	7	-	2	-	-	-	139
11.Culverts,check Dams	-	3	-	2	6	-	5	16
								1150
Tree Plantations(pieces)	5000	5000	-	6000	1000	-	1500	18,500
Saving Groups	6	6	7	2	3	-	-	24
Irrigation groups	5	2	-	-	-	-	-	7
Plot allotment	-	-	-	91	-	-	-	91

In the following works, we collaborated with the Government

1. In making BPL (Below poverty line) survey.

2. Anti polio campaign

3. Games for youth

Future plan of the POs:

To increase the PO members and also the villages,
Take up issues which affect the common good of the community along with individual needs,
To work more for the identity of the tribal society,
To pay attention to the environmental issues and plant more trees,
To ensure that the GRAM SABHA is held in each and every village and to pay attention to the development of the villages,
To oppose the atrocities committed by the Police and Forest Departments and bring awareness among the tribals with regard to this,
To encourage the Tribal lawyers and to help them in various ways,
To help LAHRC in Out of Court Settlements,
To take the help of LAHRC for legal actions,
To do net working with other like minded Organizations,
To concentrate on specific issues every month based on the needs of the villages,
To arrange for more meetings, trainings at the village, taluka level,
To choose around 35 gram panchayats where the POs are strong and to make them very active and to make them exemplary panchayats. This is to be done with the help of the LAHRC and
To keep a Register for each village of the POs which gives all the information about the village.

A word about various meetings:

Right now as the need arises, the GBMs, Representatives meetings are held. There

has been no norms fixed about when to hold, how often to hold etc. To avoid arbitrary ways of calling meetings the G B members and the Representatives have been requested to discuss and fix as to when and how often to hold these meetings. The reason for this is that all of them come to attend the meetings, celebrations etc. spending their own money. Some times, holding meetings often means more expenses. If the expenses can be reduced, that would be a great relief for the people.

JAI ADIVASI! We are proud to be Adivasis and Indians.

II. VILLAGE PANCHAYAT ELECTIONS – December 2001

How far the RIGHT TO VOTE is being exercised in the villages and when ordinary tribal people want to exercise their right to vote, what happens and what could an NGO do to bring awareness among the people with regard to exercising their right to vote is the gist of this short report.

BACKGROUND TO THE GRAM PANCHAYAT ELECTIONS (GPE):

Before LAHRC started its activities and the formation of the POs, the common mood/ beliefs of the common man in this area with regard to elections were:

Why to vote? What do you get by voting? What is the use of voting?
My vote is not going to make any difference? Who cares for my vote?
There is a lot of bogus voting. One is not free to vote.
Politics is bad and only bad, corrupt people fight elections.
Votes are bought.
You need to be rich to stand for elections
The big guns in the villages – political parties or moneyed people, vested interes – decide who is to stand for election and whom to vote.
A service minded person who stands for election without the backing of either political parties or vested interests is not able to win normally.
All politicians are same and once power comes in the hand, the person gets corrupted etc.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE GPEs:

In many places, the GPEs were overdue. They had been postponed for various reasons. Then suddenly, the GPEs were announced in November. This was due to the pressure from the Union Government since year 2001 was declared as GRAM SABHA year by the Union government. So the elections were announced for 23^rd of December. Around 10,368 village panchayats went for elections in Gujarat. In 816 village panchayats elections were held in Surat District.

AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS TO MAKE ALIVE DEMOCRACY- RIGHT TO

VOTE AND RIGHT TO STAND FOR ELECTIONS:

First step:

Meetings were held in the villages with the people and with the elders of the areas to make them aware of playing an active role in the development of their villages by exercising their right to vote and the freedom to stand for election. Initially people were not very enthusiastic about elections for the above mentioned reasons. But sitting with them and spending time with them as to how to develop their villages and how to make use of GRAM SABHA for the development of the village and in order to activate the GRAM SABHA what type of members should be elected so that the corruptions are curtailed and the people have the say in the real development of the village etc. made a difference. This made them get interested in standing for elections and for voting the right candidates who would be at their service.

Second step:

To vote and to stand for election, one needs to make sure that ones name is in the voters’ list. Many were not much bothered about it. So people were persuaded to ensure that their names were in the voters’ list. Luckily, the enrolling of the names in the voters’ list was going on. This made things easy for many. Still, some who went to file their nomination papers found their names suddenly missing though their names were in the previous voters’ list. Such cases were immediately taken up with higher authorities and names were enrolled. Only in some cases, some were left out due to technical reasons.

Third step:

Once the people got interested in the GPEs, then the issue was whom to choose as candidates and what type of demands to be made to the candidates who stand for the elections whichever party they belong to. To do this, a lot of audio video materials and posters were used. NGOs like UNNATI, WESTERN PANCHAYAT GROUP AND MAHILA ABHIYAN had prepared materials for such campaigns that were made available to us. We helped to distribute these materials in the villages through the POs. Through this approach, the people came to know what type of candidates to choose and why they should vote.

Fourth step:

Then the next step was to teach people how to fill nomination forms. Some model forms were available with us that were distributed to people. In all our centers, people were available to help people to fill the forms properly.

EFFECTS OF SUCH A CAMPAIGN:

More people have come forward to stand for elections as part of the process of making alive democracy.
There is more awareness among the people with regard to election and their duty and right to choose the right candidates for the sake of the development of their villages.
Political parties have come out openly forward to choose and to canvass for the candidates.
There are a lot of independent candidates who are standing for elections in order to have an experience rather the thrill of standing for elections.
There is a door to door campaign this time since the big political parties do not want to take things for granted.
A lot of money power and muscle power are being used in order to threaten or buy or to impress upon the people.
Since in so many villages, elections are held, the situation around is very tensed and the police bandobast (security arrangement) has become a problem. Due to this, there could be law and order problem in some sensitive villages.
A lot of divisions, misunderstandings and even confusions are caused in the villages due to various factors.
The big political parties have not liked the fact that many people are standing for the elections on their own. So they have started accusing the NGOs that are working in the areas for enlightening the people about their rights with regard to elections.

FACTORS THAT CAUSED TENSION IN THE AREAS:

Big political parties: Though the GPEs are supposed to be non political, the big political parties have directly entered in to it. These parties have not been able to stomach the fact that besides their party members, others are also standing for elections. Some villages are considered to be sensitive points due to this. Some independent candidates fear manhandling and pouring in of money and liquor, eg. Kolkhadi village in Mandvi taluka.
Divisions on the basis of Religions: Religion has played such a destructive role in this area, to divide the tribals that if in one village one candidate belonging to one particular religious sect stands, then the other sects or the major religious group puts up its own candidate. Such things are creating chaotic situations in the villages and the poison poured by various religious sects seems to be very strong and destructive besides being divisive, eg. Jamkhadi village in Songadh taluka.
Sub caste problems: If say a Gamit is standing for election, then from another sub caste like Chaudhry or some other are standing for the election to assert their rights.
Group gram panchayat: In the panchayat which has a group of villages, a lot of people from various villages and hamlets are also standing for the election to give representation to their village or hamlet.
Vested interests: In some places, the disgruntled elements or anti social elements or moneyed people, in order to get their things done either are standing for election or have put dummy candidates.
Dummy candidates in reserved seats for women: In many places which are reserved for women, either the old sarpanches or some important persons who want to control the village have put up either their wives or their daughter in laws as candidates.

RESULT OF THE GPEs:

Indeed, the elections have caused tensions in the villages due to the above factors. Now the elections are over but due to the lack of sportsman spirit, tensions continue. Soon after the elections, in some villages the losing candidates went with their support to beat up the winning candidates, the losing village went with their villagers to beat up the winning villages. Some went to the extent of filing complaints in the courts against the winning candidates.

In some villages, one PO member stood against another due to pressure from political parties or from vested interests. In some places, due to this, some healing process had to be done to bring all the PO members together.

TABLE: IV - Details of PO members who contested village Panchayat Election

Sr. No	Name of Taluka	Election Annou- Nced	Elections held	Elected Unopp- osed	PO members who contested for sarpanch			PO members who contested for ward representative			Total winners sarpanch + ward members
Sr. No	Name of Taluka	Election Annou- Nced	Elections held	Elected Unopp- osed	Won	Lost	Total	Won	Lost	Total	Total winners sarpanch + ward members
1.	Nizar	27	22	5	5	4	9	15	9	24	5+15=20
2.	Uchhal	21	20	1	4	4	8	6	6	12	4+6=10
3.	Songadh	68	56	12	18	5	23	15	22	37	18+15=33
4.	Vyara	108	92	16	16	7	23	28	9	37	16+28=44
5.	Mandvi	82	75	7	4	15	19	26	5	31	4+26=30
6.	Mangrol	61	53	8	2	5	7	6	9	15	2+6=8
7.	Umarpada	32	30	2	7	8	15	28	10	38	7+28=35
	TOTAL	399	348	51	56	48	104	124	70	194	56+124=180

LESSONS LEARNT FROM THE ELECTIONS:

Elections are elections and the political parties would like to dominate the elections either directly or indirectly and make sure of using their money power and muscle power.

Where the PO members were united there the PO candidate could win in spite of various other factors working against.

In the light of this scene, those who stand as independent candidates which means without any political party’s support could win only if they have strong support of the people.

Those who stand as independent candidates just to make advertisement about them selves or to bargain money with the strong political parties easily get vanished from the scene like the shooting stars.

Even in the villages, where the PO members were in a commanding position, were taken for a ride by their opponents at the last minute due to allurements like money, liquor or threats of dire consequences.

The eve of the election becomes the decisive night as this is the night where all sorts of tricks and allurements come to be very active.

The PO members need to be trained more to vote for the right candidates who will serve them. A strong unity needs to be built among the members of the POs keeping in mind the long term goals of the POs and the larger interests of the tribal society.

Even strongly motivated people get confused or get carried away or give into pressures rather easily.

One pertinent question is: Should the PO members stand for GPEs as PO members or be backed up by some like minded political parties or just function as pressure group?

OUR COMMENT:

In a democratic country like ours, how far is one free to exercise his/her right to vote and to be voted is a big question mark. The major political parties that have a great responsibility to see to it that the democracy comes alive during the elections, appear to be big blocks rather dangerous to democracy. Under the circumstances, how can a poor tribal person exercise his/her right is to be seen. The NGOs have played a major role in bringing awareness in these gram panchayat elections and also informing the concerned authorities about the irregularities in filing of nominations and in informing them of the sensitive villages. One thing is sure that due to the intervention of the NGOs to create awareness, the elections had become lively and more people were able to participate in exercising their rights to vote and to be voted.

III. HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

1. Forest Atrocity:

The death of Manishbhai Vasava of Katiskuva village in Uchhal taluka: On the 20^th evening of September, Manishbhai along with his friend was

carrying a small log of wood on his bicycle. The beat guard of the forest Department saw them. He was greatly annoyed and he took his gun and shot Manishbhai on his face. In no time, Manishbhai fell to the ground dead. He was around 29 years old. He has left behind him his young wife and four girl children, the youngest being just around three months.

The matter has been filed at National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), New Delhi for speedy justice. The NHRC has already sent notice to the Police Department of Gujarat to enquire into the matter and report. We are waiting. In the mean time, we are also trying to help the deceased’s family to get help from the government. Since, there has been no positive response from the government, we are filing a Special Civil Application at the High Court of Gujarat.

2. Police harassment at Jamankuva village in Songadh taluka:

On the 18^th of September, a stranger was noticed by the villagers of

Jamankuva in the early hours. In that area, for a couple of months, a lot of strangers used to appear, rob things and disappear. The people used to catch them and hand them over to the police. Since no serious action was taken to stop such robbers coming to the villages, the people had got tired of such incidents. So on the 18^th when the people noticed this stranger, they caught him, beat him up and then took him by a motor cycle to leave him near Raniamba-the village with the Railway station. There at Raniamba, he was fed by a villager and was seen off. In the noon around two at Ambaji stone quarry of Sonarpada village, a stranger was noticed and he was stoned by the people working at the stone quarry. His dead body was found in the premises of Ambaji quarry around four in the evening. The owner of the quarry was the complainant of this incident.

Now the interesting thing is that the police arrested five men from Jamankuva

village for this incident. This place is about ten to fifteen kilo metres from Ambaji quarry. Three were released and two were booked for murder. The session’s court rejected the bail application of these two tribal men. It is now in the high court. Another interesting thing is that the police go to Jamankuva on and off to inform the police Patel (the head man) of the village that he had to produce quite a few people at the police station for the sake of investigation. Often he used to be woken up by the police from his sleep around one or three in the morning. This was the police’s way of telling the village that they should be ready for any type of harassment. The children and the women were also being harassed. People were very frightened.

To stop the police harassment, we had approached the authorities to do the

needful and let law take its course. But since the harassment continued, we went to the High Court for two things: one was to obtain bail for those two in Jail since they had been wrongly put and the other was to stop the police harassment. We succeeded at the High Court on the 29^th of January. Now there is peace in the village.

3. A Hebeas Corpus petition at the High Court on behalf of Babliben Gamit whose son was missing from the working place in Surat.

Babliben’s two sons called Vanteshbhai and Rameshbhai were working at

Surat with a businessman named Satyaprakashsingh Thakur, for a long time. A part of their payment was kept by the businessman himself. A few months back, the elder brother left his job at Surat and came to his village Pervad in Vyara taluka while the younger one continued with the businessman. After some time, he went to meet his brother and to get his remaining money from the businessman. The businessman refused to give him his money. When he enquired about his brother, he told him to get out from there and look for his brother elsewhere. This was in the month of June. In October the mother of these two sons came to our Vyara Centre asking for help to get her sons. We helped her to file a police complaint at Umrao police station of Surat city. The complaint was filed on 9^th November. Even after a month, no action had been taken by the concerned authorities. So on behalf of Babliben we filed a Habeas Corpus petition at the High court. As soon as the High Court notice reached the police department, they came running to our centre on 12^th December, requesting our help to quash the case and they promised to bring the missing son and the businessman within a day or two to settle the matter. We asked the police to come with the missing person and the businessman on 14^th. In the meantime, we got in touch with the mother of Vanteshbhai and requested her to be at our Centre on 14^th. On the 14^th, the police presented both of them. The mother too was present. Things were clarified. The businessman asked pardon and agreed to pay all the pending money. The mother was happy with this solution. Since the problem had been solved, we withdrew the complaint from the High Court. Had we had not filed a petition at the High Court, the case would not have been solved still.

LESSON: In some matters, when the Government authorities do not act justly, one has to take recourse to the legal system by going to the High Court or to NHRC to get justice.

IV. TRIBAL LAWYERS

One watches a few tribal men and women lawyers moving swiftly in the courts and attending to the clients. After our tribal lawyers have joined the local courts at Vyara, Mandvi, Mangrol and Nizar things are different. For one thing that the people feel that their own people are lawyers in their courts and so are happy to approach them. The non tribal lawyers have not digested the fact that the tribal lawyers could practice and win cases. Another thing is that the local court officials who are mostly tribals are happy to help their own people in getting justice. This is the situation in which our tribal lawyers try to practice.

In the courts, there is a stiff competition and back biting by the non tribal lawyers in order to put down our tribal lawyers. Our lawyers do not have many cases in their hands. But they manage to get some small cases. They also busy themselves with legal awareness programmes of the LAHRC and the Legal trainings arranged by the respective courts.

Last December on 28^th, Vyara Bar Association Election was held. For the office bearers, dates for the filing of nominations were fixed. From our tribal lawyers, Kasmiraben had filed her papers for the post of Vice President and Ishwarbhai for joint Secretary. Ishwarbhai was declared unopposed while for the post of Vice President, election was announced as there were more than one candidates. The one who stood against Kasmiraben Gamit was Nitinbhai Desai-a Brahmin. What he did was something very repugnant. He went around saying: Kasmiraben is a tribal woman, she is poor, she is a Christian, she is a junior. She should not be elected. This type of canvassing sounds so strange but it was true. The fact is that the lawyers who felt threatened by the tribal lawyers and the female lawyers went all out to defeat Kasmirben. But good sense prevailed and she got elected by a margin of one vote. Even after the election, the tension continues. This is the state of affairs. This is the sense of equality and justice and a sense of gender justice among the lawyers! This is just an example of the types of discriminations prevailing among the lawyers who are to fight till the end to safe guard justice. What an irony?

REQUEST FOR TRAINING MORE TRIBALS AS LAWYERS:

The people and organizations around who have seen the works of our tribal lawyers have been requesting us to train more such people. We are considering the possibilities.

V. INDIGENEOUS PEOPLE’S DAY CELEBRATION:

International Day of the world’s Indigenous People was observed as ‘Adivasi Din’in all our seven centers in Surat District of Gujarat on 9^th August to draw attention to the plight of this vulnerable group in this area through the initiative of Adivasi Sarvangi Vikas Sangh – a membership based people’s organization with around 19,000 members and Legal Aid and Human Rights Centre.

In all our seven centers Nizar, Uchhal, Songadh, Vyara, Mandivi, Mangrol and Umarpada of Surat district, through meetings in the villages, people were made aware of the need of celebrating this day organized by the UN. In the meetings, people were made to understand the plight of the Adivasi today in Gujarat, in India and the challenges the tribal society faces with regard to its existence, identity, natural resources, culture and the need to come together forgetting all the internal differences in order to safe guard the tribal community.

Though on the 9^th, it was raining heavily, the people gathered at the taluka headquarters in big numbers on their own to celebrate the day. They started the celebration with their traditional dances and drums and went in procession to the Mamlatdar ( the head of the government Department in a taluka) to submit their memorandum which revealed their demands. There were three common demands for all centers: a) immediate implementation of Tribal Self-rule, b) declaring 9 August as a public holiday and c) opening of the right side canal of Ukai dam which could irrigate around 40 tribal villages. All along the way, they were shouting `Jai Adivasi` and ‘Say with pride that we are tribals and Indians’. The tribal leaders themselves conducted the meeting and gave speeches appropriate to the occasion. One of the speakers said that this day should be as important to us as our Independence day since this day invites us to think of our tribal society and to help it taste the fruits of Independence. As a lot of people sacrificed their belongings and lives to get freedom for our country, so we must be prepared to sacrifice our lives to get real freedom for the tribal people.

Through this celebration, they tried to communicate two messages. The message to the tribal community was about the need to awaken to the realities and get united. What they wanted to convey to the non tribal community was about the need to treat the tribals as human beings and to respect their rights.

VI. MEETINGS OF GRAM SABHA – VILLAGE ASSEMBLY

Every Panchayat has to hold at least six village assembly meetings in a year. But unfortunately, this was not taking place. Through POs, we tried to activate these village committees in order to ensure better development of villages. To some extent we were successful. But in many places, we were faced with stiff oppositions by vested interests. Still, we kept our efforts on.

The Union government has declared this year as Gram Sabha year which means at panchayat level, such gram sabhas were to be held. The authorities did not pay much attention to this. But then during the month of November, the new Chief Minister of Gujarat ordered the authorities to hold gram sabha before the end of November. In many places, it turned out to be a formality. Still it helped the people to have an idea of gram sabha. In the villages where the POs are active, the gram sabhas were held well and people participated with interest. The government authorities informed our Legal Aid centers beforehand so that ours also could prepare the people as well as attend the meetings. The Present District Development Officer had appreciated the efforts of our POs in holding meaningful gram sabhas.

VII. HUMAN RIGHTS DAY CELEBRATION:

Preparation:

As a preparation for the celebration, at every centre, the village representatives had gathered to chart out the programme. This time, they decided to hold meetings in all the villages, make a list of the most urgent problems that facing the villages and then make an application to the concerned authorities on the name of the village. Thus meetings were held in many villages, lists were made with applications.

Celebration:

Since the Village Panchayat elections were to be held on 23^rd of December, a lot of people did not dare to come out openly since they were afraid of the Code of Conduct. However, celebrations were held in many places.

1. Songadh:

10^th December was a day with a double celebration. One was Human Rights Day Celebration and the other was the release of an AUDIO CASSETTE on Tribal Self Rule. More than two thousand people had gathered for the same. The women gathered on the occasion were more than the men. The cassette was released by Shri Nathubhai Pachiyabhai Kokni from Dabdar village – a tribal leader. Among the prominent persons who were on dais were Shri Rappai-the Director of Gurjarvani, Ahmedabad, Sushri Indiraben Gamit, the ex-secretary of Adivasi Sarvangi Vikas Sangh, Songadh and Shri Surjibhai, the composer of many awareness songs. One of the prominent speakers was Shri Amrutbhai.

2. Vyara:

Around five hundred people had gathered together at the taluka panchayat ground for the celebration. They had first taken out a rally around Vyara town. Then a cultural programme was held emphasizing the importance of Human Rights and elucidating the types of Human Rights Violations taking place in the tribal areas.

3. Nizar:

Around 300 people had gathered at the LAHRC, Nizar for the celebration. Some members of the Governing Body made fiery speeches. Due to the election season, they could not take out a rally. So a few members went to meet the Taluka authorities to submit their memorandums.

4. Mandvi:

It was decided by the PO members to hold the celebration at Katkuva – a village in the interior area of the taluka. Around 250 people had gathered there for the celebration. It has the touch of the village style. A lot of singing and a lot of dancing were held. Those who were present were made aware of the various ways through which their Rights were being violated by various Government Departments specially Police and Forest. Then in the evening, a delegation went to Mandvi to submit their memorandum to the officials.

5. Uchhal:

Here the celebration was on a low key due to the political pressure. Around 100 had gathered for the same. Our tribal lawyers played an important role in the celebration.

6. Umarpada:

Though everything had been planned to celebrate at Umarpada, the political tension did not allow our people to gather in peace to celebrate. The Congress Party had organized a counter gathering in order to attract the people. So the people were confused. Not many turned up. Finally those who had gathered went to submit the memorandum to the concerned authorities.

7. Zankhvav (Mangrol):

The celebration was held on 7^th at Vankal village. It was a market day and so the celebration was planned accordinly. Around 100 people had gathered for the celebration. This is another where the political pressure is much. The politicians who are short sighted do not like some other organizations doing something good. They think that the people will not go to them. So the means they use is to intimidate those who take the leadership.

A word about various celebrations:

The following public celebrations are planned during the year:

8^thMarch: International Women’s Day
1^st May: May Day-workers’ Day
9^th August: International Indigenous People’s Day
10^th December: Human Rights Day.

National Celebrations:

1. 26^th January: Republic Day

2. 15^th August: Independence Day

How many Celebrations?

From our experience, we have learnt that having many celebrations in a year costs a lot for the people. It also tends to slacken the spirit of the people. So we have requested the Representatives Body to discuss and decide as to how many celebrations to hold, where, how etc. When the people decide, then there will be a lot of participation and fun along with usefulness. We plan to celebrate one event well during the year well with maximum participation.

VIII. NET WORKING WITH VARIOUS NGOs

a) TOT training for tribal women leaders of 20 NGOs:

For about 40 women, we have been having the TOT training for the last few months. They in turn train their women in their centers. They are enthusiastic and hard working. Soon, an Association for the Tribal Women of South Gujarat from about seven districts will be started as the result of our training.

b) Village Panchayat Elections:

With about 50 NGOs of Gujarat, we have been net working to ensure proper elections and to encourage people to vote as well as to stand for elections.

c) Producing an audio-cassette on Tribal self rule:

With the support of Gujarvani, Ahmedabad and Legal Advice Centre, Ahwa-Dangs, we produced an audio cassette. It has been well received by the people. Over 600 cassettes were sold within a week. Each cassette was sold at the cost of Rs.30/-. Once again, per cassette, each centre is given Rs.5/- as incentive price to add to the local fund.

IX. JAIL VISIT

The LAHRC has the permission of the Ministry of Jail to visit the inmates of the jail who are in need. The Superintend of the jail sends the list of prisoners who are in need of help. Now we have engaged two young lady lawyers for this job. They visit the jail regularly and do the needful. Besides this, when other under trials write to our centre, we make arrangements to do the needful.

X. MERIT CERTIFICATE FOR LAHRC

The Gujarat State Legal Service Authority, Ahmedabad has given MERIT CERTIFICATE to J.Stanny for the work done during the year 2000 in promoting and implementing the Legal Services activities. Our young lady advocate Kirtanben Salve received the same as the representative of the LAHRC’s advocates for their contribution in spreading legal awareness.

XI. The Success Story of Jai Adivasi Calendar

It was a novel idea of spreading the Jai Adivasi Goodnews i.e. the news about tribal identity, unity and the miracles “LOKSHAKTI” – People’s Power – could do in order to protect natural resources and Human Rights. We had a lot of discussions with the field staff, with the members of the POs and with some experts with regard to this. After much consideration, we finally produced this Jai Adivasi calendar.

50,000 calendars were printed – each pricing Rs. 10/-. The Calendars have reached all over Gujarat, even outside Gujarat. More in than 30 types of calendars are sold in the market. Quite a few Government departments, Banks, Insurance Companies, NGOs, Religious organizations and others have also printed Calendars for free distribution. But the Jai Adivasi Calendar had different features that could attract people from various walks of life:

1. Foot print on every page as the symbol of Indigenous people with Awareness slogans.

2. Various feasts of tribals and how they are celebrated, tribal dances.

3. Tribal self- rule.

4. Various tribals in Gujarat and their areas.

5. Various problems/ issues of tribals

6. The Rights enshrined in the Constituion of India.

7. The importance of gram sabha (village assembly) in the development of the village, Rights and duties of village Panchayat President, Panchayat election.

8. Useful information on some relevant criminal, civil, revenue and forest laws.

9. A good amount of photos and drawings depicting tribal life, tribal dance, tribal dress in multiple colours.

10. It has all the relevant international and national celebrations.

11. It has information about the National Human Rights Commission and the United Nations.

12. robably for the first time in the history of Adivasis that such a calender has been brought out giving prominence to the tribal population, their feasts, customs and giving importance to Indigenous People’s Day.

13. Along with the calendar, Jai Adivasi Key Chains and Stickers were also brought out to spread the message of Tribal identity and unity.

XII. AN EFFORT TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY

The calendars, key chains and stickers were brought out as part of generating funds for the POs. The actual cost of the calendar is only Rs.7/-. The actual cost of the key chain is Rs.5, the cost of the big sticker is around 75 paises and the cost of the small sticker is 30 paises. But the calendar is sold for Rs.10; the key chain is sold at Rs.7; the big sticker sold for Re.1 and the small sticker for 50 pause. So whichever centre sells whatever amount, that centre is given an incentive as above. Thus this is a small effort from our part to increase the local fund.

XIII. CONTENTS OF THE CALENDAR

Here below we describe the various contents of the calendar for your information.

On top of every page:

Right on top is, “Jai Adivasi”. Below it is, ‘Keep up the identity of the Adivasis’. At the right side is, ‘The Leg’.

On the Page of January:

General information about the tribals of Gujarat with the map and statistics. There are explanations given about the following things:

Jai Adivasi: This slogan was coined in Surat around three years back. In the course of the discussion with the Governing Body Members of the all seven POs, a question was raised as to how should we identify ourselves and also greet each other? Then after a long discussion, Thakorebhai of Mangrol taluka suggested that as other denominations and groups have their own slogan to greet each which brings about a sense of pride and belonging, we should have one and he suggested this Jai Adivasi slogan. Immediately this was accepted by one all with great applause.

Symbol of Left Leg: In 1977 a few tribal organizations and groups were first allowed to sit at the sessions in the United Nations. It was during these sessions that the Indigenous People were given a special status to sit at UN sessions. In commemoration of this world recognition, the indigenous groups chose LEFT FOOT as a symbol. This also is the sign of the FIRST PEOPLE-earliest/oldest inhabitants- of the World i.e. the first ones to put foot in to the world.

Green Colour:

Adivasis are nature lovers, the protectors and preservers. Their entire life is centred/coloured around nature i.e. greenery all around with pure, holy and healthy environment. This colour green is also a challenge for the tribal people to preserve nature and to grow more forest and create once again pure, holy and healthy atmosphere.