CONSULTATION MEETING WITH PARTNER NGOs

Action Points for Implementation

March 15, 2005

ORRC Office, Paderu

NGO Participants: Dr Sivaramakrishna, Sakti; Mr Prasada Rao, ORRC; Mr Sanjeev Rao, Velugu Association; Mr Pari Naidu, Jattu Trust; Mr Balaraju, Nature; and Mr Manmada Rao, Adivasi Mitra

CARE-STEP: Mr Suryamani Roul, Mr Harish Singh, Mr Raghavan and

Ms S Madhavi

Agenda:

1. Identify areas for capacity building of frontline functionaries, NGO staff and the community at large on Tribal Policies, Tribal Acts and Tribal issues.

1. Agree on an advocacy issue for policy change with clear action points - to be shared in a State-level workshop planned for November 2005.

Based on discussions of day 1 related to the Draft National Policy on Tribals, participants felt the need for greater information dissemination and sharing on issues relating to tribals. Capacity building of frontline functionaries, NGO staff, other stakeholders and the community at large on specific Tribal Policies and Acts is impending and is strongly correlated to deeper advocacy issues. The house recognized the fact that with knowledge and information made handy at different levels advocacy could take a bottom-up approach.

Some issues that needed urgent attention and the information points under each head were identified and elaborated upon.

Information Points

The information points need to be brought out as bilingual (separate Telugu and English versions) handbooks on the following specific topics. Separate handbooks for each area.

•  Scheduled Areas

Classroom sessions with detailed study material for ready reference focusing on the following areas:

• Scheduled Area and Sub-Plan Area - Definitions
• V and VI schedules
• Provisions of Scheduled Areas
• Single Line Administration - ITDA, Powers of PO
• Governance procedure: 5-tier system has veto powers - Tribal Advisory Council, Cabinet, Governor, and National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, President.
• Action Points for CARE-STEP and PNGOs

First draft booklet on Scheduled Areas is deliverable by April 15, 2005 by Dr Sivaramakrishna, Sakti, Hyderabad .

• Natural Resources Management

A. LAND

Practical demonstrations at field level - learning by doing

•  Land survey numbers and identification of survey stones

•  Village maps: Map reading made easy

•  Local names and landmarks to identify lands

•  Status of Allotees: survey number-wise, sub-division wise

B. FOREST

Classroom sessions including practical demonstrations

•  AP Forest Act, 1967 guidelines

•  Forest Conservation Act, 1980 further amended in 1988

•  Guidelines of Tribal Forest Interface, 1990 (8 rules in detail). E.g., the forest residents have first rights on the forest.

•  Maps - villages, roads, temples, rivers/ streams

•  Provisions for the residents - settlements, etc. Role of VSS.

•  Reserve Notification by Forest Dept.: Preliminary notification followed by a final notification.

•  Reserve Block (boundaries)

•  Deforestation laws/ rules: Under Vth Schedule. The scheduled area forests/ trees worth Rs5,000 or less need permission from the PO to be felled. Trees worth more than Rs5,000 cannot be felled in scheduled areas - even the collector does not have rights to approve such felling.

•  Community Forest Management (CFM)

•  Role of NGOs/ Civil Society organizations

C. WATER

Classroom sessions

•  WALTA: Water, Land and Trees Act

•  Water Users Association (WUA)

•  Supreme Court Judgment on potable water as a fundamental right

•  Watersheds - basic ideas with practical tips for the community to manage

•  Water Rights: irrigation rights, riparian rights - legal rights that need to be advocated

•  Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM)

•  River Basin Approach: Problems, opportunities, catchment areas in tribal areas - advocacy, rights and provisions

•  PESA

Classroom sessions with emphasis on Advocacy

• Provisions and role of the Panchayats
• Citizen Charts
• Budget allocation and provisions
• Use of legal measures (wherever applicable)

Action Point : 5-6 Panchayats to be identified in each PNGO operational area to regularize PESA provisions on a strong footing and take stand for the rallying issues.

•  NTFP/ MFP

Classroom Sessions

• Definitions of MFP and NTFP
• Role of affiliated Cooperatives e.g., GCC
• Explore other marketing linkages for MFP and NTFP
• Demand minimum support price for MFP and NTFP

Action Point: Paderu district team would work with Kovel Foundation to come up with a booklet on MFP/ NTFP.

•  Mining

Classroom Sessions with emphasis on Advocacy

• List out major and minor minerals
• Major minerals under Central Govt. undertaking and minor minerals under State Govt
• Process to procure minor minerals mining/ quarrying lease for the tribal youth
• Role of Gram Sabha - no mining/ quarrying activity can take place without adequate approval of the Gram Sabha
• Tribal policy on Mining activities
• Employment of tribal youth in mining companies

•  Tourism Promotion

• Training tribals to put up shops with their produce
• Identify livelihood options for tribals in tourist areas like Araku Valley
• Explore other areas for possible tourism promotion

Other issues discussed:

•  Araku: Gram Sabha resolution not passed to take up tourism activities in Araku valley. Gram Panchayat is demanding 50% of the total revenue generated from the tourism activities in the area.

•  Reserve forests converted into tourism areas - no objection raised so far.

•  Tourism promotion in tribal areas has its own vices and virtues. On the one hand, if it gives an economic boost to the area, it also erodes the traditional socio-cultural ethos of the tribes living there. It makes a dent into their habitations too, which might further cause displacement and resettlement of tribal communities.

•  Various implementers need to look into these aspects before they start advocating for tourism promotion in tribal areas.

•  Minimum Wages

In Andhra Pradesh, sixty-four areas of employment are identified under minimum wages. For ITDA areas the following are applicable:

• Roads and buildings
• Forest works
• Horticulture
• Agriculture
• Coffee plantations
• Mining and minerals
• Cashew plantations
• Railways (Central)

Other areas of intervention

• Equal work Equal Wages for all.
• Field training in measurement of units for calculation of minimum wages.
• Compare Dept. and Govt. wage rates and make them co-terminus
• Currently, there are gaps in the Dept. and the Govt. wage rates. Therefore, lobby with the Dept. to follow Govt. wage rates

•  Market Control

Classroom sessions, demonstrations and advocacy

• Producers controlling the markets through adequate knowledge of weights & measures - every tribal should know how to weigh and calculate the value of his produce to avoid middlemen.
• Work with local shandies through various organizations that control market rates
• Demand support price
• Organise SHGs in sale of produce in the market
•  

• Law & Order

Classroom Sessions on:

• Bailable Sections: Guidelines highlighted with examples
• Non-bailable sections
• FIR Copy
• Criminal Procedures Court (CrPC): Rules and guidelines. Bails granted on two sureties for Rs5, 000.
• Conflict resolution through traditional panchayats.
• Tribals' customs with relation to marriage are not coded so they are not legally binding. Protect tribal customary practices with laws.
• Oral Bail: Provisions and implications
• Atrocities Act: Protection of civil rights and prevention of atrocities against SCs and STs, 1995. Any entitlement denied to an individual is considered an atrocity. Highlight different live cases of atrocity.

• Laws governing Land Pattas
• Addl. District sessions judge, mobile courts

•  Development Administration

Classroom sessions, live demonstrations and role of advocacy

• Education and Literacy Missions
• Drinking Water Programmes
• Health Programmes
• Coverage by Social Security Schemes
• Schemes and programmes for Girl Child
• Budget Allocation and Utilization

•  Social Security Schemes

Classroom sessions and demonstrations of availing of such schemes through live examples

• Status of social security schemes in STEP areas
• Schemes, benefits, eligibility and process of claiming: ICDS, FWP, Old age pension schemes, etc. in easy and understandable language to be used by the community at an individual level.

Action Point : Bring out posters in Telugu and English on two areas

• Central Govt Schemes for rural areas - e.g., food for work, old age pension, etc.
• Tribal Schemes e.g., provisions in PESA areas, Scheduled Areas, etc.

ORRC, Paderu has already done a translation of the Action Aid Poster on rights to Central Govt Schemes. But, a few additions need to be made to the same. The provisions of the National Food Programme and the Employment Generation programs need to be highlighted.

Overall Action Plan

To come up with booklets on Land, Forest , Water, Scheduled Areas, Social Security Schemes, Law and Order, which could be finalized through a workshop and further modules designed to capacitate the community in a simple, understandable and usable form with pictorial presentation.

The booklets should be bilingual - Telugu and English versions. First booklet on Scheduled Areas is deliverable by April 15, 2005 . For future booklets a time frame and budget has to be decided upon. Key Responsibility : Dr Sivaramakrishna, Sakti

In addition to the above, participants recognized that the Tribal identity, culture, tradition, biodiversity and ethos are under a serious threat of degeneration and losing their originality. Therefore, some immediate steps need to be taken to preserve this rich culture and body of knowledge.

As a first step, designing a Tribal Calendar with local names for weekdays and months was agreed upon so that a sense of belongingness prevails among the implementers. For example,

Kanne pitta digindi oye, pappulu jallali - is for August and has its significance for agriculture broadcasting when the yellow-throated sparrow arrives.

Action Point : Some one with a good grasp of the local culture and traditions - Dr Sivaramakrishna readily took up this responsibility too.

The budget for each of these activities needs to be looked into and finalized at the State Office. However, budget proposals from respective individuals are also invited to speed up the process.

STATE LEVEL ADVOCACY WORKSHOP - November, 2005

Issue Identified for Advocacy

In Andhra Pradesh there are 800 villages with a density of tribal pockets, but are enlisted as Non-Scheduled Areas. The benefits, which should have also reached the deserving tribal communities in these non-scheduled villages has gone to the enlisted ones under Scheduled Areas. For example, in East Godavari District Rampa Chodavaram is a Scheduled Area and the adjacent Peddapuram Revenue Division is a Non-Scheduled Area with 47 tribal villages.

In the four districts of CARE-STEP there are many such Non-Scheduled Areas contiguous to Scheduled Areas and with a reasonable concentration of tribal pockets. However, these regions are deprived of the administrative provisions otherwise enjoyed in the Scheduled Areas. Thus all PNGOs with the support of CARE-STEP would lobby with the govt. for denotifying such Villages, Panchayats and Mandals and reconstituting those areas so that the provisions of Scheduled Areas are extended to all tribal pockets uniformly.

Steps Involved

Other Steps for which time-line has to be decided upon and implemented based on future consultations:

•  Develop a draft concept paper on the advocacy issue and initiatives taken - to be shared in a preliminary workshop. By: August - September

•  Based on workshop feedback, collect further data/ information, analyse and consolidate for FINAL PAPER to be shared in the State Level Workshop - October 2005.

•  Identify different individuals/ institutions and invite papers for the State Level workshop e.g., Prof Gopinath Reddy of CESS who has contributed substantially in the fields of Participatory Watershed Development and related advocacy areas; NIRD, Hyderabad has done substantial work in PESA and the like.

•  List of possible Invitees: Commissioner, Principal Secy., Tribal Welfare Dept., civil society organizations and individuals, Planning Commission

Formats for Data Collection

Format 1 District Profile