Report on an alternative political forum

The report on an alternative political forum held on November 23, 2008 inBhubaneswar
The one-day meeting on an alternative political forum was held on November 23,2008at Red Cross Bhavan, Bhubaneswar. The meeting held between 11 AMÂ to 5.30PM.Mr Sai Prasan presided over the meeting.Mr Prasan has introduced the background paper on the alternative political forumwhich was prepared after three months of discussion and debate on the subject.The paper was widely circulated. He requested Mr Sudarshan Das, a former studentleader and a columnist, to kick-start the discussion on the alternativepolitical forum. Mr Das said that Orissa lacks political direction. The political class is moreinvolved in the allegations and counter-allegations instead of any constructivedevelopmental work. There was a vacuum within and outside the political parties.The political parties are directionless on issues like Kalinga Nagar.The Left parties also have become weak and the left movements have beenvanished. And, the political student movements are not there.New political formations like Samrudha Orissa, NCP and Samajwadi Party have comeup in the state. An anti-Naveen campaign was being carried by these politicalparties. These political parties should focus on issues. Both political processand electoral process should be carried separately. The political process shouldbe strengthened in the State as it is a long drawn process.Both SC and ST population constitute 40% of the tribal and dalit population. TheBSP is representing dalits in the State who are fighting among themself. Thereare problems like education, health and poverty in the state.There are well meaning people in the state like Kishan Parishad. We need tobring all these people on one platform and unitedly work on the issuesconcerning state. It is a challenging job. We need to evolve a people orientedprogrammes.The alternative political initiative can work on two issues:
1. Evaluate the performance of the Congress led United ProgressiveAlliance (UPA) government at the Centre and BJD-BJP led State government in thelast five years and eight years respectively. Both achievements and failuresshould be critically analysed.
2.And, simultaneously, evolve People's oriented manifesto and programmethrough public debate and discussions.
Taking a cue from Mr Das, Mr Sricharan Behera, a sociologist, said that it isimportant to note how the marginal community are treated. The mindset of castehierarchy of upper caste and lower caste should be dismantled. Both thecaste and land issue should be addressed in the state. In reference toKandhamal, he said that 35% of the total land was acquired by the non-SC-ST inthe area. The attack on Pana caste is one sided. The definition of forged castecertificate should be looked into. The caste certificate issue is not beingaddressed properly. Striking a relationship between poverty and Naxalism, Mr Sujeet Kumar, a policyresearcher, said that an interesting trend has been witnessed in the Kandhamalviolence. Naxalites have taken responsibility of killing Swamiji which has ledto the communal violence. The question here arises that the socio-economicsituation was same in Kandhamal and Kalahandi region. But, what is the reasonthat Naxalism is strong in Kandhamal area and not in Kalahandi? Replying to Mr Sujeet Kumar, Mr Sudarshan Chhotray, a human rights activist,said that 75% of the population in the state are living below poverty line. Itis a fertile ground both for communalism and Naxalism. The Kandhamal issue hasbeen clubbed with the communalism which has been flared up. The resentment hasbeen manifested in the communal form. The political process should continue toaddress these issues. People should speak as they are not speaking. Only astrong people's movement along with a good leadership can solve this kind ofproblem. The Naxalism is strong in Kandhamal as there was an escape route for theNaxalites in these areas as the area was bordering with Andhra Pradesh. Contraryto this, there was no escape route in the Kalahandi area as the area wasbordering with Chattisgarh. He said that the nature of Naxalism is changing over the years. The movement is getting more of armed centric which wasalienating people. Currently, the Naxalism was prevalent in twenty districts.The people's support to Naxals has been reduced. The state needs a politicaldirection. Commenting on the overall situation prevalent in Orissa, Dr Dhanda Mishra, anacademician and educationist, said that the State needs a rigorous and criticalacademic exercise to evolve a people's agenda. The state leadership lacksvision. The state has a capacity which can be utilized in the development of thestate. The political class was involved in the blame game while the Orissa stillfigures at the bottom of the states.Referring to the public funding for the political parties in Australia, he saidthat it was a major issue that needs to be addressed. Alcohol was beingdistributed to woo voters. The money was being collected in the wrong way whichhas a negative impact on the political process. The choosing the right kind ofcandidates was also very important. The backwardness was responsible for therural-urban migration. The integration of policy with the real world was veryimportant. He said that the State has continued to borrow money and createassets; resulting the per capita burden going up. The roads have beenconstructed in the state which was a good asset.With regard to the growing cost of higher education, Dr Mishra said that therewas no problem with the higher education as the self-financing sector can makethe higher education possible.He said that Orissa has several thousands of educated unemployed youth who canbe engaged in a cost effective manner in the primary education. The humanresource development can take place in a better fashion, he said.
Responding to Dr Mishra, Mr Gobinda Ballah Dalai, a youth activist said thatthere were lot of political rebels in the State who were co-opted by the systemin a big way. There was no role model before the Youth of the state. Theadministration was fully involved in the people's issues in Andhra Pradesh. Theglobalization was having an impact on all the spheres of life.The situation in the state has reached to such a level that one can be booked onany filmsy ground. The democratic process has failed. The formation of apolitical forum was necessary and not necessarily a political party.
Participating in the debate, Mr Ashok Nanda, a political activist, said that thestate needs a new political formation which strongly believes in socialism. Theparty should explore how the state exchequer can earn from the rich mines. Theparty should ensure compulsory education and health services. The party shouldspend less on election campaigning and each constituency should have a trust tomeet the electoral funding. Endorsing Mr Nanda, Mr Tushar Ray said that the mineral resources is notbenefiting people; only the corporates are getting benefited. The change of thissituation is necessary in the state.He said that it is sad that the politics was confined to elections only. Theadministration is in a bad shape. The functionaries commitment to the Boss ismore important than to the people. It has become public that the bureaucracy wasdoing more politics than the politicians.The political parties do not have any inner democracy. If there is no innerdemocracy in the political parties; than how the democratic process can bepossible outside the party. The transparent functioning was a must for thedevelopment of the state. In similar tone, Mr Prashant, a grass-root youth worker, said that the buildersand mafia leaders are ruling in the politics. The voters are under the threat ofmafia rule. How the democratic process can be possible in this kind ofatmosphere, he asked. In line with Mr Prashant, Mr Sandeep, a youth political leader said that it isan irony that the politics has been confined to voters getting money to vote.The political system has gone awry. The contractor and politicians nexus is verystrong. Only awareness can bring political change in the state. A sudden changeis not possible. The people are facing financial and medical problems in thestate.A new trend is being witnessed among the youth. Youth is getting attractedtowards Naxalism as they are completely disillusioned with the politicalparties. Earlier, the Naxalism was confined to only five districts, but now ithas spread to twenty districts. Another youth activist Mr Pritikant Panda said that there is no stand at theground level as there is a vacuum at every level – social and political. Thefamily system itself got disintegrated.He said that the globalization has developed a negative habit among people.Their savings have come down and the credit has gone up. The NGO led developmentcan not be possible in the state.He said that there are political workers. However, the candidates will be amajor factor. The youth need to be trained politically who can be groomed at theearlier stage of life.With reference to women's role in development, Mr Panda said that women areconsulted for the financial literacy, but they are not consulted whether to havea child or not. On poor condition of women, Ms Annapurna Tripathy, a social activist said thatthe women should be legally and politically empowered in the state. Thewomen should come forward. The political awareness among women was required fortheir participation in the politics. The IT literacy among women in the statewas very weak. The e-literacy can play a vital role in the women's development. Intervening in the debate, Mr Tapan Mahapatra, a child rights activist said thatEnglish plays a vital role in the developmental process of the state. Englishwas also necessary for getting good jobs. The people of the state need to bemade aware. And, a good leadership should lead the alternative political forum.And, all the deliberations taken place at the alternative political forum shouldreach all the 314 blocks in the state. A separate ID should be created forreceiving and communicating information about the new political forum. Among others, Mr Rupak Johnson, Mr A K Paikaray, Mr Devi Prasad Tripathy, Mr Bimal Prasad and Mr Hrushikesh Sarangi also participated in the discussion. Plan of action: Following decisions have been taken in the one-day meeting on an alternativepolitical forum:
1. The members in the meeting have unanimously agreed to name thenew political forum Janata Vikas Manch (JVM).
2. A blog in the name of Janata Vikas Manch will be made online todiscuss and debate on issues related to the alternative political forum.
3. The performance of the Congress led United Progressive Alliance(UPA) government at the Centre and BJD-BJP led State government in the last fiveyears and eight years respectively will be evaluated through public forum -Blog. Both achievements and failures will be critically analysed.
4. And, simultaneolusly, evolve People's oriented manifesto andprogramme through public debate and discussions on Blog.
5. All the discussions carried on the Blog will be conveyed to thepeople through media.
6. An e-mail janatavikasmanch@gmail.com will be operationalised.
7. The organizational framework concerning the JVM will be evolvedin due course of time.

Ends