Gujarat: No guarantee for Muslims here in national rural job guarantee

(The Sunday Express
May 28, 2006)

No guarantee for Muslims here in national rural job guarantee
Janyala Sreenivas

An investigation by The Sunday Express uncovers that in Gujarat villages worst-hit by the 2002 riots, Muslim residents are being kept out of the UPA’s showpiece national rural employment guarantee scheme. A three-part series

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AHMEDABAD, MAY 27:Once again, the courts may have to step in for justice in Gujarat. Four years after the riots, it’s been officially acknowledged—and is being examined by a state government panel—that Muslim residents in many villages face social and economic ostracism. Now add one more: many of them are being denied work under the Centre’s showpiece National Rural Employment Guarantee Act Scheme (NREGA), which ensures—by law—100 days employment per year to anyone in need of work.

This also raises questions about the effectiveness of the monitoring mechanism in the scheme. For, several Muslim villagers who fled to the nearest taluka after the violence to find safety in numbers also find themselves knocked off the rolls.

The job scheme is on in six districts of Gujarat—Sabarkantha, Banaskantha, Dahod, Narmada, the Dangs, and the Panchmahals. Over three weeks, The Sunday Express toured three districts which were the worst-hit: Panchmahals (166 killed), Sabarkantha (134 killed) and Banaskantha (17 killed). And visited at least 24 villages with mixed population.

The Sunday Express collected copies of the job-card registers from these villages and found that where there was political will to monitor progress, Muslims were included in the scheme. For example, in Oran village in Sabarkantha and Boru in the Panchmahals, there are Muslims on the panchayat who ensured their community was not left out.

But where the communal divide has hardened, where violence led to murder and widespread arson, like Eral, Delol, and Vejalpur, Muslims are nowhere on the EGS rolls. Spot reports:

ERAL, PANCHMAHALS:

When husband of sarpanch is riot accused

There are 50 Muslim families—about 300 people—in this village with a population of 7000. So far, 235 job cards have been issued for “road connectivity” work. While Adivasis and OBCs were “encouraged” by the panchayat, Muslim families were left out.

“We were not even called for the gram sabha where the scheme was explained to villagers,’’ says Yusufbhai Ibrahim, a Muslim community leader. ‘‘When I heard about it and asked the sarpanch, he said it’s not a good scheme and pays a pittance. You are telling me today that it is Rs 80 per day. This is news. There are several of us ready to work to earn that kind of wages.’’

The job-card register at the Earl Gram Panchayat office has a good mix of names from every caste—Barias, Harijans, Nayaks, Patels, Ravals, Vankars and Rathwas.

However, one reason why Eral’s Muslims could have been deliberately left out isn’t hard to find. The village has a woman sarpanch, Ushaben, but it’s her husband Maheshbhai Parmar who effectively runs the panchayat. Parmar is an accused in a 2002 riots case and faces rape and murder charges. Eight persons were killed when Eral’s Muslim families were attacked on March 1, 2002.

“There is tremendous pressure on us to withdraw the complaints. We have been offered money but we refused and are fighting the case. Due to this there is tension, especially with the sarpanch,” says Yusufbhai.

Asked about this Parmar told The Sunday Express: “I thought the Muslims, who mostly work in the fields, won’t do these jobs. I did not know they would be interested.’’ The talati, B. Vaghela, who issues the job cards says he went by those who applied. “There were no Muslims in all the applications that the sarpanch forwarded to me. It’s the job of the sarpanch to make sure everyone participates,’’ Vaghela says.

Most of Eral’s villagers work as farm hands, earning Rs 30-40 daily. ‘‘But work is seasonal. If work is available here and such high wages, why won’t we do it? Once, the sarpanch said he did not have (job scheme) application forms. The second time, he did not even let me in. I did not go again,’’ says Iqbalbhai Ismailbhai Sheik.

DELOL VILLAGE, THE PANCHMAHALS:

Dalits happy with menial jobs, Muslims isolated: sarpanch

If like Eral, the job-cards show communal bias, they reflect caste discrimination as well. All names in the register are upper-caste Rathods. Of course, there are other communities in the village — for instance Kansaras, Solankis, Vankars and Dalits.

Ask sarpanch Vilasben J. Shah and she claims “all the SC/STs and Dalits are happy with their menial jobs.”

The upper castes, who mainly run small businesses, are averse to labour. That left the 300-odd Rathod families and 25 Muslim families. While 107 Rathods were issued job cards, the Muslims were neither told about the scheme nor their queries entertained.

Admits Vilasben: ‘‘Since the riots, Muslims have become isolated in this village. We are not in touch with them. Some of them live a little away from the village but come here during the day in search of work or to sell vegetables. But there is not much interaction with the community.’’ When asked if she and her panchayat had informed Muslim families about the scheme, Vilsaben said: ‘‘When we organised the gram sabha, they could not be called as they were scattered and I did not know they would be interested.’’

Mustafabhai Younus Sheikh, who sells water pouches on the Kalol highway, says he approached the panchayat office thrice. ‘‘The first time the sarpanchben said the talati was not there so she could not give me the application. The second time, she said she had to attend a marriage and asked me to come later. The third time, the panchayat office was locked.”

Asked about this, Vilasben says: ‘‘This is the marriage season. We have to go out often and might have missed some applicants. We don’t see the Muslims in our village much so I am not aware if they also wanted the jobs.’’

Delol Talati Amarsinh Parmar has the same defence as his counterpart in Eral: “Muslims don’t figure in our job cards list because I didn’t receive any applications from them.”Asked if he or the panchayat tried to contact Muslim families, Parmar said: ‘‘They keep coming and going out of the village. Where could we find them?’’

(Tomorrow: 3000 Muslims, zero on the cards; in one village, a lesson in inclusion)

Not denying; if true we will fix it: Gujarat Govt

Told about the discrimination:

•Additional Commissioner, Rural Development, K N Bhatt said:

‘‘I am not denying it. In a society heavily caste-ridden, you cannot remove prejudice 100 per cent. There are so many administrative permutations and combinations that we may have overlooked this. What the sarpanch is doing at the village level is hard to monitor but as bureaucrats, we are absolutely neutral. I don’t know if this is a very deliberate thing but I will get it thoroughly checked. If it’s happening, we will rectify immediately.’’

•Minister of State for Rural Development, Panchayats, Bharatbhai Barot:

“It sometimes happens that a strong majority community in a village calls the shots. I’m sure if Muslims who are excluded write complaints, they will be not forwarded to higher officials. If this is happening, it’s wrong and will be fixed immediately.’’

janyala.sreenivas@expressindia.com