National People's Audit of Special Economic Zones

The National People's Audit of Special Economic Zones in India was conducted on 19-20 April, 2010 in New Delhi, at the Nehru Memorial Auditorium. It was organised by a collective of people's movement groups, social and research organisations and academics. This two-day national convention was a culmination of state-level people's audit of SEZs that was conducted in several states of India, through last year (2009-2010).

The National Audit panel comprised of Kuldip Nayar, Devaki Jain, Admiral (Retd.) Ramdas, K. B. Saxena, Meher Engineer, Rahul Bose, Ashish Kothari and Advocate Vrinda Grover. On day one, the panel heard depositions and testimonies of affected people and activists from the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Orissa, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The second day it focussed on the situation in Tamil Nadu, Goa and Northern Region (Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi) along with an national overview and the observations of the Jury which will be released to the public and media .

The People's Audit, over the last year, has emerged as a process of critical importance to evaluate state policies, their impact on people and implementation, in a manner that is more inclusive and places importance on people's perception and views on the issue. The SEZ policy, enacted in 2005, has been severely criticised for the manner of implementation, dispossession and displacement caused to people, on a large scale. Issues evaluated were those of land acquisition, displacement, environmental impact, compensation, employment generation, livelihood loss and labour rights.

Ulka Mahajan from Jagatikikaran Virodhi Kruti Samiti, Maharashtra presented an overview of the SEZ Act and issues around it. According to her, “the anti-SEZ movement in Raigad against the Reliance promoted Mumbai SEZ, where a historic referendum resulted in 95% farmers saying “NO” to the project is a undeniable declaration of common people's resistance to such 'development' that is being forced upon them.” However she lamented the fact that the result of this referendum was not made public and neither did government officials or corporate representatives attend any of the state audits, proving their lack of interest and emphathy to people's voes.

According to her, narratives from farmers, agricultural labourers and fisher-people across most states was similar. Farmers everywhere are asking “This land - my life, my labour, my work has been providing for me generations. Why should i give up my life and my livelihood? We will continue to fight to save our environment.” She also said that agricultural land was being targeted and all resources, especially water diverted for industrial use. gLaws everywhere, labour and environment protection for example, are being diluted, manipulated, to make way for the SEZ Law.

People's struggles against SEZs in Raigad, Vagholi, Mann andGorai have been successful after immense struggle against all odds. Even others like Shahapur, Dherand, Aurangabad, Nashik, Chakan and Khed SEZs were seeing the results of the combined agitation.

On the resistance against the Mihan SEZ project in Nagpur, an affected person who deposed before the panel talked about corruption and lack of accountability in the Government and corporates. As example he spoke about the CEO of Satyam who despite the scam and allegations had been made the Vice President of the Mihan project. “Approximately 2000 families will be displaced in this project.

As protest, men and women in the village organised a Mundan Andolan (Shaving of the Head). Normally such a ceremony takes place to mourn the loss of a parent. In this case we were mourning the abandonment by the Government, who is considered to be the mai-bapp (mother and father) of all people.”

Sister Cinderella from Gorai discussed land acquisition that was initiated by developers Pan India Paryatan Ltd. for 5740 hectares on Dharavi Island. While it was true that almost 80% of the land was owned by the Government, people still had been residing in these areas for decades. The developers, after the agitation were forced to give up on 5740 hectares and only applied for 120 hectares.

Two Maharashtra state-level panelists also presented their findings to the National panel and raised a few questions. Trilochan Shastry said “A few individuals make laws and policies, completely ignoring the opinions and needs of ordinary farmers and workers in the country. They have to be exposed, or they have to be removed.” Dr Anand Teltumbde said that India was erroneously trying to emulate the SEZ and industrial policy of the western world and China. “However while the China model of SEZ uses only 8.5% cultivable land, the contrast in India is for everyone to see.”

Manshi Asher, activist and researcher, introduced the Gujarat chapter and tried to lay out the details before the audience. “Gujarat is being trumpeted by its Chief Minister as the SEZ capital of India. The first claim is that most of the export revenue earned from SEZs originates from Gujarat while the second claim is that SEZ implementation has been virtually resisatance or protest-free – since no agricultural land has been forcibly acquired from farmers and farmers have either been willing to sell their lands or wasteland land has been allotted to SEZ.”

According to Manshi, who has worked extensively on this issue, “the lie behind the first claim can be nailed on the fact that bulk of the export revenue originating in Gujarat is from the Jamnagar refinery. Also, the other so called successful and high export SEZs were already operational and profitable industry hubs, before being conferred with the status of SEZs. This is a lie that the Government presents to the people and has to be exposed to the all.” For the second claim of the

Government, she said “most land that was originally given to SEZs was acquired decades back, by the Gujarat State Industrial Development Corporation. Obviously there will be no protest for land that was acquired in the 80's and 90's.”

Bharat Patel from the Machimar Adhikar Sangharsh Samiti presented the resistance against the Mundra Port and SEZ which was endangering the livelihoods of over 1000 fisher-families in the region. “The area around the Kutch coast has been labelled as an ecologoically sensitive area in Government and MoEF reports, yet the Adani group proceeded with construction and cutting down of the Mangrove forest without any Environment clearance. This just shows the extent to which there is collusion between the Government and the corporates.”

Testimonies from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa were all disturbingly similar in their narratives of how Government officials and land agents adopted manipulative methods to coerce and fool people into selling their lands without their knowledge. Case after case deposed on how District Officials forged signatures, opened fake accounts and transferred the compensation amounts which villagers' had refused to take the same. Mallapa Gowda, a tribal whose land was grabbed after his signature had been forged on the land document, said “I have sweated my whole life and put together a complex irrigation system for my fields, digging a well, putting in piping – I want my land back.”

The Audit was jointly initiated by the National Alliance of People fs Movements (NAPM); the National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI); Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS); and National Centre for Advocacy Studies (NCAS) as the core group of organizations and jointly organized with state – level groups including Jagtikikaran Virodhi Kriti Samiti (JVKS), Maharashtra; Andhra Pradesh Dalita Samakhya (APDS); Anti-KSEZ Farmers f Committee, Kadali Network, Praja Udhyama Aikya Vedika, Dalita Bahujana Bhoo Parirakshana Samiti, Coastal Corridor Praja Hakkula Parirakshana Samiti in Kakinada; Krushibhoomi Samrakshana Samiti (KBSS), Karnataka; Karaavali Karnataka Janaabhivrudhi Vedike (KKJV), Karnataka; Sirappu Porulaadhara Mandalam Edirippu Iyaikam (SPMEI), Tamil Nadu; SEZ Virodhi Manch, Goa; POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti, Orissa; SEZ Virdodhi Manch, West Bengal; Machimar Adhikar Sangharsh Sangathan (MASS), Gujarat; Matru Bhoomi Raksha Sangharsh Samiti, Una, Himachal Pradesh; India Centre for Human Rights and Law (ICHRLN); and the Delhi Solidarity Group (DSG).

Bhopalis seek PM's Response

At a Press Conference on 13 April 2010, four Bhopal based organizations representing people exposed to Union Carbide’s toxic chemicals and their children announced their indefinite protest in the capital calling for the establishment of an Empowered Commission on Bhopal for long term medical care and rehabilitation of the victims.

Bhopalis reached Delhi on 15th to stay as long as it takes the Prime Minister to fulfill his two year old promise to set up the Empowered Commission,” said Rashida Bee, President of Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmchari Sangh, who has been awarded Goldman Environmental Prize for her work in Bhopal.

The Bhopalis, including two survivors of the December 1984 disaster and two children exposed to toxic contamination from Union Carbide’s untreated chemical waste, presented a document read out on 29 May, 2008 by the then Minister of State for PMO, Prithviraj Chavan, in which he publicly declared the Government's “in-principle” agreement to set up an Empowered Commission on Bhopal. This was followed by a decision of the Group of Ministers on Bhopal, headed at that time by Arjun Singh, recommending the setting up of the Empowered Commission.

April 17th marks the fourth anniversary of the Bhopalis' first meeting with Prime Minister Singh, where he assured them that the lingering issues of medical, environmental, economic rehabilitation in Bhopal would be taken care of.

“It wasn’t easy getting to meet the Prime Minister,” said Syed M Irfan, President of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush sangharsh Morcha. “We had to walk 800 kilometers and then we had to do another Bhopal to New Delhi Padyatra in 2008 for the Prime Minister to issue a written promise.” He said that the Empowered Commission is urgently needed to stop the ongoing disasters in Bhopal that are still killing, injuring and maiming the unborn.

“Despite the promises, 20,000 people are still drinking poisoned water; 10,000 gas victims who were promised jobs are jobless; medical treatment for the indigent victims remains elusive; the site and its surroundings are polluted, and the culprit – Dow Chemical – is freely doing business in India,” said Safreen Khan from Children against Dow-Carbide an organization of second generation victims.“What is the worth of the PM's word?” she asks.

According to Rachna Dhingra from the Bhopal group for Information and Action, since the first time that Prime Minister Singh promised action in 2006, nothing has moved in favour of the Bhopalis. Rather, 22 survivors have spent time in high security Tihar jail; 36 people including 12 children have been beaten in the Parliament Street police station; serious charges of assaulting police officers have been filed against a 16-year old Carbide victim and another 75-year old gas victim, and four Chennai-based supporters are facing charges in a Delhi court that could result in a maximum jail term of 5 years. All these people took action to remind the Government of its unkept promises.

Rashida Bee said that they anticipated violence by Delhi . She said that they have been told by the Parliament Street police station that out of state protestors, such as those from Bhopal, will not be allowed to camp in Jantar Mantar because of the Commonwealth Games.

“We are beaten and falsely charged just for peacefully reminding the Prime Minister of his unkept promise. If all non-violent and democratic means of articulating our frustration over 25 years of broken promises are prohibited, what does the government expect us to do? Go in to hiding? Take up guns?” asked Rashida Bee.

Satinath Sarangi of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action said that the Prime Minister’s apathy toward the plight of the Bhopalis is in stark contrast to his commitment to keeping their promise to the US Congress and nuclear equipment suppliers. By actively moving the Nuclear Liability Bill even as Bhopalis are fighting for resolution of Dow Chemical and Union Carbide's liabilities 25 years after the disaster, the Prime Minister is busy indemnifying the likes of GE and Westinghouse Electric from future liabilities that may arise due to nuclear disasters.

Rashida Bee, Champa Devi Shukla
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
Syed M Irfan,
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha

Rachna Dhingra, Satinath Sarangi,
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
9582314869