Above given link will lead you to P.Sainath's article. We at SCM revere him. He is truly remarkable. Using adjectives for Sainath is tiring because none of those do justice to what we experience and feel in his presence.
My lengthy blog is a persepective on his article. My blog is not politically directed; which may make my thoughts sound like theories (and in India, we know how many of those we have), it also sounds like an excited ramble. Therefore i am going to be kind enough on my readers and embolden the important points. So that you can skim through the blog and take away those important points that i am trying to make.
For the time being, I shall keep aside that facet of capitalism which makes rich richer and poor poorer, pushing the latter into the narrow confines of their existence, depriving them of those opportunities which can make their life better; thus making them so easily vulnerable that they can be easily provoked into mental and physical violence. While the former flourishes, spins a tight network of corporates, media and government; thus eliminating any scope of external inquiry, dialogue and participation.
I shall assume that given half the chance the oppressed would be worse than the oppressors. From my Fundamental Concepts lectures, I remember for any development to take place; it is important that all those concerned should have a stake in it.
This is something that we don’t see around. Many Indians have lethargy and apathy towards society. I am guilty of the same too. Maybe I am content with the illusion that since I belong to the social sector; I am of some constructive use to the social development of this nation which may exentually tip the scales against capitalism. (If there is no capitalism, then what do we have? A nation must run on a powerful ideology which works like a computer- precise, consistent, convenient, feasible, accessible and accountable)
We see a wave of social reformation in India which has happened post 26/11; which ironically; is the tragedy of the elite. Therefore, after the elite has faced the tragedy; our social reformation has been targeted to bring the same people down. Our media is focused on making the government accountable, RTI is discussed and brought into spotlight, people are discouraged to give and accept bribes, we have internet activism for casting our vote against producing genetically inhanced brinjals.
From where I see; it is a problem of culture- how much to retain and how much scope to give for acclimatization, it is the struggle of the individual to attain solitary success; instead of collective success which benefits someone else apart from him/her. It is an internal struggle of the individual to spare some energy to invest for a larger cause. This gives rise to another contradiction.
“An individual forms the society and the society forms the individual. The individual reflects the society it represents and the society is made up individuals that habituate the society.”
Keeping this in mind; if we engage in personal success then we should be happy. If we are happy then the society should be happy.
We are happy and we are sad.
We love the justice which is the harbinger of good times. We demonstrate outrage on what is unjust and unfair. This demonstration is largely dependent on the physical quantity of people who are victimised. The larger the number; the bigger the demonstration. After a while we get used to the inconvenience that injustice brings along with itself. We become the traffic of the vehicles which treat the injustice like an inconvenient lunar crater (a.k.a. pothole) on National Highway.
The problem of capitalism is the problem of culture and individual.
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I started working for my firm almost 2 years ago.
We develop communication strategy for the social sector (primarily in the sector of public health). We also conduct market research to come up with a strategy and to pre-test the same before launching it.
I remember districts of Durg, Rajnandgaon and Raipur in Chhattisgarh; where we (me and the my office team) had gone to conduct qualititative research on the topic of maternal health and children uptil the age of 6.
After the Focused Group Discussions and In-Depth interviews; we used to switch off out tapes and just chat with the villagers who were present for the discussion.
The men who spoke to us were mostly labourers on farms, or plumbers/mechanics. In the district of Durg; we met men who worked in the Bhilai Steel Plant and travelled to work from village everyday.
The women were mostly labourers on farm, shop owners in the village, housewives, Aanganwadi didis, Accredited Social Health Activists or Mitanins/ Sangwaaris.
The younger children attended the Aanganwadi schools. Many villages have schools upto 8th std; I think. The boys study till 10th std at least; and most of the girls drop out after attaining puberty (roughly around 5th to 7th std).
The Sarpanchs in the village were elected based on their family’s financial position, education (their educational qualification were put up in the Gram Panchayat office) and their involvement in other samiti’s in the village (like kisan samiti, self help groups of women, entertainment samiti etc.). The Sarpanch(s) I met; were from the dominant caste in the village.Since the dominant caste gets a little more education, and they have more access to the Government schemes. For example: the Accredited Social Health Activists or Mitanins (As they are known in Chhattisgarh), are generally from the dominant caste. The criteria of Mitanin selection is that the enrolled candidate has to be educated till std. 8th and she has to attend several rounds of training before she can work as a Mitanin in her village. Generally, women from the higher caste attend the training; for which they go to the nearby district for upto 30 days. The lower caste women belong to families who do not own agricultural land but work on someone else’s as labourers. They cant miss work to attend the Mitanin training. Also many of them can only sign their name; they cant read or write otherwise. The Mitanin training (classroom teaching oriented) curriculum is heavy on theory and there are manuals, supplementary manuals for teaching of the Mitanins.
My vivid recollection of Chhattisgarh experience is that as Indian citizens; we are lethargic, apathetic to fellow human beings.
I was casually talking to one of the housewife who had come for a Focused Group Discussion, “Do you know who is responsible for determining the gender of your baby?” She logically concluded that since she has given birth; it must be her. Noone in her family or community wants to disturb the cozy misconception.
I asked another woman, “When you see us; coming from cities; wearing clothes that we do (which was a modest salwar kameez; but somehow those faces in ghoonghat made us feel naked); talking and laughing out loud when you hide your smile in your palm and wipe it off with your pallu; don’t you ask yourself why this is not in your village?” She did not answer.
Later, the Anganwadi worker told me that people may not open up to me since I am a stranger and I think my interview sounded more like police interrogation. “Do you know what anaemia means!” “Why does a woman not get enough rest in her pregnancy!” etc etc.
Health is the most important aspect which must be taken care of by every individual in order to live and prove functional. In my experience, the health factor is not on the radar of villagers. They deal with a problem with any solution that is within their reach.
They live with their joys and sorrows. They don’t see the need to fight for anything.
When they look at the benefits provided to them by the government; they immediately look for profit in it. On Janani Suraksha Yojna, one man actually told me, “1500 rupaiya jo milte hain. Wo saare hospital ke liye kharch ho jaate hai. Humein kuch nahi milta.” I was thoroughly shocked to realise that this man is actually seeking a profit margin!
This brings forth another point of medical services and their increased privatisation.
The debate of privatisation versus government services is as inconclusive as “Should prostitution be legalised?” or “Are women in the North-East emancipated or explioted?”
