The
arrest of Suresh Kalmadi on 25 April marked yet another
scene in the prolonged drama surrounding the Commonwealth
Games held in Delhi in October 2010. Yet the general
media focus on Kalmadi may have served to distract attention
from the many other acts of omission and commission
that mark the sordid history of that extravagantly planned
and deeply flawed public show.
In these other actions, there are stories of funds diversion
that have a bearing on more than issues of probity and
corruption, however important those are. They also have
direct and indirect effects on the conditions of existence
of some of the most deprived and needy segments of the
population. One particular story is that of how the
Government of Delhi diverted as much as Rs 744 crore
over three years to expenditure for the CWG, from funds
that were especially earmarked for the Special Component
Plan for Scheduled Castes in Delhi.
In fact, this matter was raised in Parliament in August
last year. At that time the Minister directly in charge
of the Government of the National Capital Territory
of Delhi, Mr. P. Chidambaram (the same one who has recently
been busy commenting on the quality of administration
in different state governments) was called to book on
this account. He accepted that this was wrong, and went
on to promise that the entire amount would be returned
in the Budget for the following year. However, the Delhi
Government’s Budget for 2011-12 shows no such increase
– in fact the amount allocated has increased by only
around Rs 134 crore, to a paltry total of Rs. 355 crore.
The idea of Special Component Plans (SCPs) for SCs and
STs was mooted by the Planning Commission in recognition
of the fact that standard expenditure practices have
not ensured benefits to specially marginalised communities
and localities. The amount to be allocated under the
SCP for SCs in Delhi is 16.93 per cent of the total
Plan expenditure (based on share of population according
to the 2001 Census). The guidelines indicate that only
those schemes should be included under the SCP that
ensure direct benefits to individual families, groups
and hamlets of SC people and that priority should be
given to providing basic essential services like primary
education, health, safe drinking water, nutrition, housing,
electrification, sanitation, drainage and prevention
of submergence of buildings. Expenditure on livelihood
promotion schemes and education is also encouraged.
As it happens, the Delhi Government has already been
systematically underspending on this crucial category.
Instead of the required 16.93 per cent, it has spent
on average less than 1.6 per cent in the period 2008-09
to 2010-11 – or around one-tenth of the required spending.
This amounts to a cumulative denial of nearly Rs 5,000
crore in these three years! The current year is not
better: not only is there no indication of any effort
to put back the amount it had siphoned off earlier as
promised last year, but the allocation is still less
than 3 per cent of the plan spending, with a shortfall
of nearly Rs 2,000 crore.
Why does all this matter? It matters because this is
not just a story about state priorities and expenditure
allocations. It amounts to the regular and continuing
denial of the basic rights of many citizens who also
happen to be Dalit residents of Delhi. Many official
and unofficial surveys have found that the bulk of the
SC population living in Delhi is living in extremely
precarious, unhealthy and poor conditions that are much
worse than those of the general population. There is
also evidence of significant discrimination against
them in terms of access to infrastructure and basic
services.
Delhi is regularly presented by national policy makers
as the example of shining and newly prosperous India.
Indeed, in the now-common distinction between ''the
two Indias'' – one rich and emerging if not already
emerged, the other still poor and backward – Delhi is
typically seen as the archetype of the former. And if
one goes by the many newly built flyovers and shiny
malls filled with happy consumers, it would be easy
to be impressed in this way.
But Delhi encapsulates India. It probably contains as
much disparity as the country as a whole, with extreme
poverty and destitution coexisting with the most extreme
expressions of affluence. In the narrow by lanes of
resettlement colonies or the chaotic congestion of jhuggi
encroachments, very different income and consumption
standards prevail. It is not just income, but even access
to the most essential goods and services that is lacking
among such populations.
Because several of these are treated as ''unauthorised''
colonies, quite often human security is also under threat,
not just because of petty criminals and gangs, but because
of the periodic enforcement drives of the state. A sudden
and unannounced demolition drive in late March this
year that attacked and dispossessed more than 800 families
living in jhuggis in Gayatri Colony near Patel Nagar
exemplifies this tendency. Even when the heavy hand
of the state does not actually destroy the homes and
livelihood of such people, the constant need to placate
and bribe agents of the state at various levels creates
huge insecurity.
For those familiar with the intertwining of social and
economic discrimination in India, it should come as
no surprise to learn that Dalits are disproportionately
represented among such poor people. For example, the
Mission Convergence Survey of the Government of Delhi
found that more than 90 per cent of SCs living in Delhi
were living in jhuggi clusters, resettlement colonies,
unauthorised localities and construction sites – not
exactly what could be called ideal housing. There were
also a significant number of homeless Dalits living
next to garbage dumping sites.
A recent survey of conditions of SC families in Delhi
conducted by the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights
finds even more appalling conditions in a wide range
of areas, and poor access to basic needs. The poor condition
of infrastructure and civic amenities endured by most
of the sample of 2400 families is particularly noteworthy.
All the SC settlements were found to have narrow and
dingy streets, poor drainage with overflowing sewage
and associated stench and swampy conditions, creating
many health hazards. Garbage heaps abounded with little
or no public collection facilities.
Sanitary conditions are especially dreadful. Nearly
a quarter of the survey respondents used open toilets,
but it should be noted that this may be healthier for
them than use of the public toilets (19 per cent) which
were inevitably found to be stinking, without adequate
water and flushing facilities. The issue of minimally
adequate sanitation also has a major gender dimension:
women and girls face great reproductive health risks
as well as threats to their physical security, especially
when they are forced to go long distances and search
for privacy for such needs.
Many more examples and statistics relating to the appalling
conditions of the majority of Dalit families in Delhi
could be mentioned: forced to access only very poorly
funded and often discriminatory public education and
health care services; insecure livelihood and limited
employment opportunities and so on. But that is really
not necessary, because the main point is that a lot
needs to be done and that there are many ways in which
public money could usefully be spent to improve their
conditions.
So the denial of public resources that are mandated
under the SCP for SCs amounts to a huge assault on their
basic socio-economic rights, as it forces them to continue
to live in squalor and degradation. This major crime
of omission has to be rectified immediately, but this
will only happen if the government actually finds itself
to be accountable in this matter. And for that, many
more public voices need to be raised.
This
article was originally published in Frontline, 7 May,
2011.
|
