Fwd: Invitation to participate in Sunwai Karwai Yatra, Rajasthan, May - June 2013
Rolly Shivhare
MAZDOOR KISAN SHAKTI SANGATHAN (MKSS) INVITES YOU TO JOIN THE “SUNWAI EVAM KARWAI YATRA”, 20 May - 16 June, 2013
Dear Friends,
This is to invite you to participate in a month long campaign to establish basic structures for accountable governance across four districts of Rajasthan. The campaign will be an on-the- ground attempt to ensure effective implementation of the Right to Hearing Act in the State of Rajasthan, and strengthen the demand for the enactment of a National Grievance Redress Law. Through this campaign, we aim to initiate a broad dialogue that will focus on the popular demand for accountability of Government and its officials to the people.
Ever since the passage of the RTI Act, it has become clear that the Right to Information has helped enforce transparency in governance, but questions of accountability remain fundamentally unaddressed. The last two years have seen a popular outcry for accountability at all levels. The Right to Hearing and the Grievance redress bill seeks to provide a legal framework through which citizens can hold their government accountable in a decentralized manner.
The Right to Hearing Act, partially modeled on the National Grievance Redress Bill was passed by the Rajasthan Government in August 2012. In December, 2012, the Rajsamand administration along with the MKSS ran a series of pilot camps to work out the proper implementation of the Act at the grassroots level. This exercise had very positive results, and it became clear that a set of rules and orders could help put in place a framework for citizen centered accountability. SEE ATTACHED NOTE. On the 9thof April, 2013, the Rajasthan Government issued orders to begin state-wide implementation of the Act based on the Rajsamand model. COPY OF THESE ORDERS ATTACHED.
The Right to Hearing Act attempts to achieve three simple but extremely important objectives:
1. REGISTRATION: a single window at the Panchayat level which is mandated to be open for two hours every day, to accept any/all applications/ complaints and issue dated receipts.
2. HEARING: A compulsory weekly hearing day across the State at the Panchayat, Block and District level where applicants/ complainants can engage with the administration.
3. RESPONSE: Guarantees a written reasoned response within 21 days detailing action taken on the matter.
The Campaign & Yatra
Despite some success in the pilots, it is clear that it will take a long and sustained use of these provisions by ordinary people and citizen’s groups before these measures are institutionalized in an effective manner. The MKSS has planned a month long campaign including a three week “Sunwai Karwai Yatra”, to begin this process of institutionalization.
The Yatra will take place in 4 districts of Central Rajasthan: in Bhilwara, Pali, Rajsamand and Ajmer in the six blocks where the MKSS works. The aim of the yatra will be to spread awareness about the Act, encourage people to use it and monitor the functioning of its three basic objectives on an immediate and ongoing basis. It will allow participants to see the process through, from the time of depositing a complaint to receiving a written response and to take note of the challenges in implementation. The participants of the yatra will be split into approximately six groups, each covering a particular geographical area/ block. Each group will travel through as many villages as possible in the Block, discussing people’s grievances, encouraging them to file applications, attending the weekly public hearing meetings, and through this process monitoring and strengthening the implementation of the Right To Hearing Act.
The rough schedule is as follows –
20th – 22rd – Basic preparation for the yatra, and possible pilot in one Panchayat to be used for training of participants.
24th – 25th – Training – including observation of the weekly public hearing camps.
26th – 31st – Phase 1 of the Yatra, ending with the scheduled Friday public hearing.
1st – 8th June – Phase 2 of the yatra ending with the scheduled Friday public hearing.
9th – 14th – Phase 3 of public hearing ending with the scheduled Friday public hearing
15th – Debriefing at the School for Democracy and conclusion of yatra.
The MKSS has invited activist groups from other parts of the State, and Country to participate in the Yatra which will be a learning as well as an advocacy exercise. It will provide an opportunity to all of us to understand the challenges and potential of these legal provisions so that a larger campaign at the State and National level can be planned. We plan to engage with the District Administration in all these districts, so that the RTH Act is rapidly institutionalized and has an immediate and noticeable impact. We will therefore try and plan mid-term review meetings with the administration in different districts while the yatra is on. While we would like people to stay for the whole month, we realize that this might be too long for many activists/ grassroot workers. We would however like to insist that people participate in the yatra for one of the following two periods - 20th May – 3rd June or 3rd June – 15th June.
Please be aware that it will be hot in Rajasthan during this period. Those on the yatra will have to spend most of the time living in villages under very basic conditions.
We would like to know how many people from your organization would like to participate in this campaign. Please send us details of your arrival and departure as soon as possible.
As many of you may know, the MKSS is a non-funded people’s organization. This campaign will depend on voluntary contributions. Those who participate in the yatra do not have to pay any registration cost. We expect to eat and sleep in whichever village we are in during the course of the yatra, and will depend primarily on people’s hospitality. However, there will be occasions when we will have to make our own arrangements. We hope that participants who come will cover their costs of travel, and contribute where they can.
The three day training will be held at the School for Democracy Campus near Bhim. Bhim is a block headquarter, one hour from Beawar, three hours from Ajmer and Udaipur. You can contact Lalsingh (tel 09799106973)/ Shankar (09414003247) / Janani (07742467093) for further details.
Nikhil Dey, Shankar Singh, Aruna Roy
(For the MKSS)
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Nikhil Dey
Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan
Village Devdungri, Post Barar,
District Rajsamand,Rajasthan 313341
India
Rolly Shivhare
Madhya Pradesh Right to Food campaign Bhopal
mobile - 9425466461
तोड़ न पाओगे इस बार,
मेरे हौंसलो की उड़ान,
खोने न दूंगी खुद को
अपने काम को नया काम
नया आयाम दूंगी
और दूंगी एक नई पहचान
अपनी आत्मा को
जो मुझसे शुरू होकर
ख़त्म होगी मुझी में