Since 1983 YIP has been involved in mobilising rights struggles of the poor peasantry in Andhra, i.e. over 31 years. The successes of these struggles enabled YIP to take up the struggle on MGNREGA. Recently YIP wrote an article of our experiences to date regarding our work on MGNREGA, which was carried in the magazine Civil Society. A few of you had some important questions in response to this article. Over the next few weeks through our blog we will try to address these questions, anchoring the responses in the lessons we have learnt from the past struggles.
Your feedback and comments are very important to our continued work in this area and we welcome them. Please continue your engagement on this.
DO RIGHTS STRUGGLES START WITH CIVIL SOCIETY?
One of the central questions you asked was around the role of civil society initiating the struggle for a particular right. In response, it is first important to recognise that all rights struggles whether to demand a new right or to implement an existing right is area or country specific. Civil society in India took up the struggle of the right to work in 1986 and continued it to 2005 when MGNREGA was legislated; we had no idea if we would ever succeed. This struggle has only taken place in India, though there are unemployed in every country, why?
Civil society started this struggle, then Ms. Sonja Gandhi and the left parties put it to vote, placing the right to work on their agenda and got it legislated. Civil Society has played an important role in the legislation of MGNREGA and therefore it feels that it is responsible to ensure that MGNREGA is implemented in accordance with the rights given under the Act more so than the Government or the Congress party. In the context of rural India civil society is needed to demand the legislation of pro-poor acts (if the legislations do not exist), and ensure the rights based implementation of each such Act
This is a responsibility and not a choice.
For next week we will look at whether civil society has a mediation role between rural workers and the state government to help enforce this right.
Your feedback and comments are very important to our continued work in this area and we welcome them. Please continue your engagement on this.
DO RIGHTS STRUGGLES START WITH CIVIL SOCIETY?
One of the central questions you asked was around the role of civil society initiating the struggle for a particular right. In response, it is first important to recognise that all rights struggles whether to demand a new right or to implement an existing right is area or country specific. Civil society in India took up the struggle of the right to work in 1986 and continued it to 2005 when MGNREGA was legislated; we had no idea if we would ever succeed. This struggle has only taken place in India, though there are unemployed in every country, why?
Civil society started this struggle, then Ms. Sonja Gandhi and the left parties put it to vote, placing the right to work on their agenda and got it legislated. Civil Society has played an important role in the legislation of MGNREGA and therefore it feels that it is responsible to ensure that MGNREGA is implemented in accordance with the rights given under the Act more so than the Government or the Congress party. In the context of rural India civil society is needed to demand the legislation of pro-poor acts (if the legislations do not exist), and ensure the rights based implementation of each such Act
This is a responsibility and not a choice.
For next week we will look at whether civil society has a mediation role between rural workers and the state government to help enforce this right.
