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K02a
It is early afternoon and a group of women and girls gather near the temple of Yamai Devi, the presiding deity of their village in western Maharashtra, around 45 km from Pune. The women and girls finished their morning chores early since they didn’t want to miss Seema’s session. Seema is a member of the Feedback Ventures team that is managing the community engagement process leading to the acquisition of land for developing a multiproduct SEZ in that area. The Capacity Building Division of Feedback Ventures has developed the Community Led Sustainable Rehabilitation Intervention (CLSRI) model that works on a win-win-win principle for the private developer, the government and the community by using the trigger tools of clean water, education, sanitation or health. The primary objective is to improve the quality of life in villages.
Seema, a no-nonsense woman, is at the temple steps before the group congregates. She looks forward to meeting them. “How are you Akka?” she asks an elderly woman and before the woman can reply, Seema sharply asks her, “So where did you shit today?” The woman is flustered and replies with eyes downcast, “Out in the open. What to do? My son-in-law is not digging the pit.” Her voice trails off. Others chip in. “He is no good, a loafer, doesn’t want to work, and his wife is pregnant.” Seema quickly intervenes:“So what is the solution?” Hectic plans are drawn up, someone volunteers to find a spot, other women find the tools and most are willing to help dig a pit. By tomorrow the pit will be operational and a makeshift toilet will have been constructed to provide dignity to one more generation. Satisfied, Seema checks the status of a few more toilets, understands the issues and gauges the behavioural changes taking place. As she ends the meeting, someone invites her home.“Come and have lunch with us today.” In the evening, Seema and her team will discuss job related skills villagers would like to acquire.
This is no ordinary story. In just 15 days, Seema and her team have inspired this village of over 2,500 people to examine issues that hinder development. They have held meetings, participated in gram sabha discussions, walked into people’s homes and used every opportunity to trigger a collective wave of consciousness. There is a buzz of confidence. People are beginning to feel empowered. There seems to be an urgency to take charge, fix their own backwardness and hasten infrastructure development of their village. They have many wants - education, drinking water, loans for entrepreneurial opportunities, roads and a better life for their own progeny. They want to participate in making this happen and share the financial and physical efforts required! And will you believe it? They all willingly acknowledge that taking away barren land for setting up an SEZ can be leveraged to their advantage and help them achieve a happier, more secure and better quality of life. This is their chance to break free of the notion that their future will always be decided by what their‘karma’ has decreed. Suddenly this ‘karma’ is theirs to shape and design by improving their village and their lives. So while adjoining villagers are in the throes of agitations and unrest over forcible land acquisition, in this village, community leaders are engaged in examining the resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R) options, the opportunity for building and strengthening their technical skills, the time frame for getting the village school repaired and so on.
Surprised by all this? We aren’t really! The Capacity Building Division of Feedback Ventures has been involved with the human side of infrastructure development for the last few years. Going by our experience of working with grassroots projects and of community development we were convinced that if industrial growth and economic success had to be achieved then an acceptable balance needed to be established between reckless investment for industrial growth (which provides pockets of affluence, a huge market for export and foreign exchange) and patches of abject poverty with impoverished farmers from whom the land is acquired. Merely paying compensation for land acquired is a travesty of justice. The fruits of development and progress must also make a difference to villages. The process of SEZ creation must involve them and the progress and growth of SEZ turnover must improve their financial and wealthcreation capacity. This can be done only if the community is seen as a partner by the SEZ developer. It requires an enlightened SEZ developer, a business house that is truly concerned with India’s equitable growth along with an equally credible implementation partner. But more importantly, since very little gets done without the threat of legislation in our country, it is our policy makers who must envision the prosperity of India through inclusiveness and participatory approaches. And the state government should play a facilitating role in letter and spirit. Feedback’s Capacity Building Division has been successfully using its CLSRI model in different parts of the country and on four ongoing SEZ projects in Maharashtra.
We work with communities to build consensus that giving up land and opting for alternative livelihoods will improve their quality of life. At the same time we also work with the developer to ensure that development projects for communities are carried out around the location of the project. It is not true that villagers are unwilling to part with barren land. The process is important. It involves compensation, upgradation of skills, ensuring sustainable livelihoods and empowering communities to take decisions that will improve their quality of life. If communities are convinced that their lives will improve, they will never oppose the project. The political environment must also be included in this engagement. The most critical part is to gain the people’s trust in a transparent and fair manner. Once trust has been built, specifically through rallying points like sanitation or education, it can lead to discussions on a wider range of issues like health, education, literacy, jobs, roads, etc. A whole set of participative tools are used that result in clusters and groupsaggregating at the villagelevel to map their own needs and priorities. In the process ‘natural leaders’ emerge: shy schoolgirls, the physically challenged, the garrulous mother-in-law. In villages where Feedback is involved, these ‘natural leaders’ have happily donned the mantle of change makers: resolving queries, influencing others, inspiring action. The intelligent mapping of issues is followed by participative decision and action on what they will undertake to do themselves and what requires support. Many issues which require support form part of the detailed R&R plan design. The R&R plan is drawn up by Feedback based on the community engagement process and the understanding of ground realities. This then leads to initial negotiations with the villagers by the Revenue Department officials of the State Government. Feedback acts as facilitators. The villagers are first met together and the broad outlines of benefits are announced and agreed upon. Thereafter, different elements of the R&R package need to be specifically targeted for different segments of the community. The approach is inclusive and so the R&R package has something for all project affected people - including the landless and other vulnerable sections. In this village near Pune, Feedback is ensuring open defecation is eradicated. The approach is to work on the principle of no subsidy but behaviour change and selfprovision of low-cost toilets. To upgrade these toilets at a later date, theFeedback team will help villagers access government funds. The water project being undertaken in the village gets funds from the developer, some amount from the community and the rest from the state government. Communities monitor the project and Feedback only oversees and ensures it is done in a time-bound manner. Significantly, the community becomes the decision-maker, financier andimplementer. Quietly, methodically and without acrimony, villagers are giving themselves infrastructure that many governments have promised them for years! So when the issue of SEZ development and land acquisition is brought up, the environment is not charged nor is there an all pervading fear of uncertainty. Instead, discussions lead to mature methods of examining and exploring the developmental benefits that can be derived from such a project without coercion or false ‘sweet talk’.
(Rumjhum Chatterjee is Managing Director of the Capacity Building Division of Feedback Ventures Pvt. Ltd.