Citizens’ Meet…Citizens Speak…
Posted in Blog
On 29.05.2009
The meeting was slated for 5:30 pm but by 3:30 I got reports of women filing in–in buses, walking, in rickshaws. By the time I reached the spot, at least 1500 women, mostly from Rama Pir no Tekro were sitting in gaily coloured saris listening to Bharat Singh Jhala (BSJ) holding forth on the ills of our system. Soon one woman after another started speaking, some hesitantly some with gusto fueled by anguish and anger. The issues were the same whether the speaker was from the Tekro, a veiled Muslim woman from Juhapura, a frustrated and eloquent Dalit speaking of the ignominy of their jobs or an old lady from the broken down hutments of Gandhinagar– lack of water, overflowing gutters, lack of or uncertainty of homes/huts, lack of civil infrastructure, non-issuance of Below Poverty Level cards that would enable them to get some services at lower rates, corruption at all levels of delivery of goods and services. Gandhian Prakash Shah and SUCI head Dwarikanath Rath also came and spoke of the necessity of a sustained fight for civil rights.
All the press had been invited. DNA and TOI were present as was TV9 and Focus. The Gujarati papers, including alas Divya Bhaskar, were absent as were the main Tv channels like ETV and of course Doordarshan.
The meeting finished at 6:30 as women needed to get back home to cook. By then 1500 forms filled by those in need of widow pensions, BPL cards or disability pensions were in our hands with the promise of many more to come.
From the street to the five star… My next meeting was with Rotary Club, Majestic at the Pride Hotel. I had asked my friend Dr Mukesh Bavishi to organize this even before election day as I felt service groups like the Rotarians would need to be roped into a civil society solution to problems. The meeting was attended by doctors, lawyers and the like. My “impassioned” talk had many takers. The Rotarians are currently doing some work with a part of the Tekro. My urge was for a more concerted and wholistic approach. They have readily agreed so a policy and planning meeting is in order.
This morning I have been in touch with the Food and Civil Supplies Department who verify and issue BPL cards and five volunteers from the Tekra are sitting at Natarani Cafe sorting 1500 forms. Once this is done I am to forward these with a cover letter to the Department.
But the very parameters of determining who falls below the poverty line are ridiculous. And what is on offer after they do get a BPL card is another joke. The poor are continuously subjected to corrupt shop keepers who not only give them less kerosene than they are supposed to, but also often right false information in their ration registers. The entire system is so deeply and convolutedly corrupt that one needs to steel oneself not to say “this is impossible” and give up.
