Quarter 2 1 June 2012Quarter 3 | September 2012

MINING RICHES, BURYING FACES

In this issueEditorial

Editorial: Manoj Chandran, Meera VijayannContributors: Shilpi Kapoor, Richa Govil, Prianka Rao, Bastu Rege, Ramesh Gauns, Rana Sengupta, Ritwik Dutta, Arvind Pitre, Tadesh Inagaki, Felipe Castro

Design: info@crossover.co.inTalk to us: mchandran@ashoka.org Website: www.india.ashoka.orgAddress: 54, 1st Cross, Domlur Layout, Bangalore 560 071 Telephone: +91 80 4274 5777

Disclaimer: The views and comments mentioned in the articles of FellowConnect are that of the respective authors and do not reflect the position of Ashoka on these issues.

When Donors Become Funders

I have often wondered about donations. I have often heard people talk about dona-tions, without really discussing the cause they would want to give money for or the institution they would donate to.

We have always had a strong culture of do-nating, perhaps the earliest instances being donating to monks and temples. Donations are sought as a one-way transaction. You are not expected to give back anything if you are receiving donations. Albeit, you would be required to execute the action agreed upon.

Individual donors who have experience in donating relate to the cause. They under-stand the need and want to see the change they cannot bring about themselves. Partic-ularly, when donations are made for social issues such as natural disasters, where the crying need is evident, people relate to the emergency and do not hesitate to donate. Most often, relating to the issue, resulting in us donating, does not make us ‘own’ the so-lutions. If I donate for flood relief measures, I know that a social entrepreneur or an agen-cy somewhere is implementing a solution using my donation. However, I do not carry a sense of ownership of the solutions, pro-cesses implemented and the results thereof. I cut myself off from the problem and the solutions after I make my donations.

The good news is that people who donate to see social change are increasingly inter-ested in engaging with the projects. They no longer want to see themselves as ‘mere do-nors’, but an investor and, therefore, could play a more important role.

As the works of social entrepreneurs in the country are written about and the social impact they are creating celebrated, we are seeing increasing number of people con-nect with the works of the former. The common man understands the innovative

solutions being implemented by social en-trepreneurs and many a times wants to be a part of the ecosystem that supports these entrepreneurs.

The concept of crowd funding seems to of-fer this kind of experience to the donors. Crowd funding is gaining popularity among innovators and business entrepreneurs. Websites such as Kickstarter have helped scores of entrepreneurs raise their initial investments from individual ‘investors’ who believe in their products or services.

Not surprisingly, there are a few crowd funding websites that have come up aim-ing to exclusively cater to the funding needs of social entrepreneurs. There are several advantages to social entrepreneurs leverag-ing crowd-funding platforms. They can cut down on the time to raise funds. They can raise large sums engaging with thousands of ‘investors’. As the concept builds maturity, we will find more innovation in this space that will appeal to social entrepreneurs. A lot of innovation will also be pushed by the changing mindset of the ‘donors’, who want to be engaged with the projects they do-nate to.

Has the time come for crowd funding web sites exclusively for social entrepreneurs in India? What kinds of social entrepreneur-ship projects could be more feasible to raise money through the process of crowd funding?

Your magazine is now thicker! As you so readily pour in your thought leadership on several subjects, we have little choice but to increase the number of pages. Our attempt is to cover as many topics as possible so that you are encouraged to send your views on these topics to us.

Manoj Chandranmchandran@ashoka.org

What is the biggest challenge differently-abled people face in connecting with

the mainstream society?People with disabilities face a broad set of challenges that range from mobility, to managing independently, to reading or writing or even communicating easily. If we take the hearing impaired in particular, when we see them, we don’t visually see a challenge, but the main challenge that they face is in communication. This challenge affects them in their interacting with community, in education, and in employment.

How has the demand among the differently-abled people changed over the years?We do find people with disabilities now looking to be empowered. Aspirations are based on the society around you, and people with disabilities are no different. We see them seeking better education and jobs as well. We see them wanting to be able to move around in society without facing any barriers. Today, a hearing-impaired person also has a mobile phone, and he/she wants to be able to see a movie like his peers. The problem would be that not many movies have subtitles, especially while playing in theatres. So here, we create the gap.

How has technology kept pace with the demand?Well, technology has impacted the lives in some areas like reading, writing but in some, we need to see more improvement. For example, the issue of mobility is key to a visually impaired person. Can we

take new technologies like maps and GPS to provide them with information on the move seamlessly? Though this has started to happen, there are challenges, in that maps are not up-to-date or in some cases, maps are not available for a few areas, or places not identified on the maps.

Though technology can change the lives of people with disabilities, we will have to keep up with it to ensure that the newer technologies include (the needs and wants of) people with disabilities and don’t create a barrier for them.

In your experience, what should social entrepreneurs working for the cause of the differently-abled do to adopt the latest/emerging technologies and products?The first thing that social entrepreneurs working with disabled people should do is ensure that they use technology to bridge some of the gaps, or challenges faced. They should proactively see how new technologies could empower disabled people. This needs to start early in the life cycle of the person; by introducing this in schools, colleges, etc. If this is addressed, then technology can be an enabler. Often, we see that the person with a disability is struggling to spell. For example, a reading-writing toolbar like Dolphin SaySo can aid the person to do this better.

Smart phones are perhaps the devices we spend most of our time with. It would be nice if we could particularly focus on the

emergence of smart phones, and how the instrument needs to have enough applications to address the needs of the differently-abled. A smart phone is in every person’s hand today. We need to ensure that assistive technology is also available to integrate with the mobile phone and applications. For example, a screen reader on a mobile phone is important for the visually impaired. Providing sign language relay services using the mobile phone will be integral to the future of the differently-abled people.

The challenge again is to ensure that the mobile applications are also accessible to people with disabilities. For example, there might be a newspaper now providing a mobile application, but if this has not been developed keeping the accessibility guidelines in mind, it might not benefit the people with disabilities.

How can social entrepreneurs become the catalyst between the demands of the differently-abled and the product/technology companies?We need to break the mindset that we are making someone dependent on the technology. In my opinion, providing an e-book to a dyslexic or a visually impaired student is better than waiting for a volunteer to read to him/her based on availability. Giving the person independence by providing technology, so that they can be self-reliant, is the key.

Little has been done to include people with disabilities in both the mainstream society and in the workplace. While there are several aspects to ensuring that the disabled get their fundamental rights, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are increasingly playing the key role of an enabler. Ashoka Fellow and Founder of BarrierBreak, Shilpi Kapoor, speaks to FellowConnect on how technology has the potential to address a large part of the challenges faced by the differently-abled in our society.

BREAKING BARRIERSby Shilpi Kapoor

TECH & DISABILITY

P2Breaking Barriers

P3Why don’t Indian farmers grow more fruits and vegetables?

P5

Marketing Purely Rural

P7Capital Conundrum

P8Your Experience, My Knowledge

P9

MINING RICHES BURYING FACESEnvironmental Impact Assessment

Unhealthy Practice of Negligence

P13Tales Stones Tell

P14Litigation Matters

P15

Honour Killings Dishonoured Lives

P17Education : The Accountability Chal-lenge

Back CoverThe Story of a Young Changemaker

Cover Photo CourtesyFlickr User - cdeimages

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ket prices, unlike grains that can be held on to for a longer time.

Price volatility: Fruits and vegetables ex-perience a much higher degree of price volatility than grains. Part of the reason for this is the high level of mismatch between demand and supply of fruits and vegetables. Another reason is the inefficiency of mar-kets in matching supply and demand in dif-ferent parts of the country. And of course, their inherent perishability and lack of cold-chain is an additional worry.

Price realization due to spoilage: Lack of proper storage and transport facilities has yet another impact – spoilage of produce resulting in lower price realization due to poorer quality of produce by the time it reaches markets. For example, I saw cracked coconuts at a sorting-grading facility – dam-age that could easily have been avoided with proper packing (and better roads).

Stored crops as financials assets: As one agri-expert puts it, farmers treat grains like fixed deposits, for lack of other ways of sav-ing/keeping money. They store them and sell them off as needed. You simply can’t do that with fruits and vegetables! Even cold

storage would extend the life of fresh pro-duce by only so much (unless processed, of course – but that’s a completely different topic).

Dignity of transaction: Recent discussions with farmers revealed another reason for medium to large farmers not growing fruits and vegetables. Typically, fruits and veg-etables are harvested and sold in smaller quantities at a time. When selling wheat, a large landholder farmer can arrive in the mandi with a truck-load full of wheat and be treated with respect. But if he arrives with a small vehicle of veggies, he will be treated just like a small and marginal farmer without much respect and dignity. It is interesting to note how class dynamics plays into deci-sions about what to grow. Almost all of the reasons above relate to risk – either production risk, logistics risk or market risk. Only two non-risk reasons can

be seen in the list above (besides dignity of transaction) – opportunity cost of choosing crops which require greater time and care, and usage of stored crops as financial assets (which in principal can be addressed with better financial access).

Typical solutions to risk management are insurance products, but typical crop insur-ance products cover only a limited subset of these risks. And in any case, insurance subscriptions in India have been much lower than hoped for by policy makers and non-profits alike.

So what are the mechanisms and institu-tions needed to address the plethora of risks, to enable farmers to actually deliver what people actually want to eat? And what also gives them higher margins? Or, if we expand our thinking to non-food crops, we can ask: what mechanisms and institutions will help farmers shift to more lucrative crops?

In India, rice and wheat comprise 70 per-cent of agricultural produce by area, but

less than 25 percent by value. That is, wheat and rice are low value crops to grow com-pared to other options. Yet, the land area dedicated to wheat and rice has not seen a significant decrease.

Government data shows that the consump-tion of wheat and rice has been declining around 1-2 percent in both urban and rural India, while the demand for fruits and veg-etables has been rising by 2-3 percent annu-ally. This again begs the question: Why aren’t farmers shifting to growing more fruits and vegetables?

In addition, detailed studies across the coun-try have also shown that while farmers just about break even (gross return compared to gross costs) on cultivating wheat and rice, growing fruits and vegetables is a profitable undertaking (gross returns are on average double the gross costs). Besides fruits and vegetables, there are also other crops that help generate a higher income than wheat and rice. Having gone through these re-ports and data, I have been wondering why, despite all this, do farmers choose to grow mostly wheat and rice?

In other words, if Indian consumers are de-manding more fruits and vegetables, and these crops are more lucrative anyway, why do Indian farmers keep growing more and more wheat and rice?

Are farmers completely unaware of the difference in returns? Or, is it that despite knowing the disadvantages, they choose to grow wheat and rice?

The first possibility seems rather difficult to believe. While I am sure farmers have not done a detailed profit and loss for growing wheat versus okra, it is unlikely that farm-ers are completely ignorant. They probably do have a rough idea of probable market prices, input costs and profits.

So what is it about fruit and vegetables that keeps farmers from growing them?

Out of intellectual as well as professional curiosity, I have being digging deeper into this question, with the help of field visits and people working in the agricultural sector. Here are the results from my own observa-tions and discussions with agri-sector pro-fessionals and experts.

Minimum support price: Wheat and rice come with a government minimum support price, and fruits and vegetables don’t. Farm-ers find it assuring to know that MSP exists and may influence open market prices and/or demand for their produce. (Leave aside the fact whether MSP has a real impact on market prices/demand in reality)

Risk of crop failure: Pulses, fruits and veg-etables are more vulnerable to adverse weather, leading to higher risk of failure. Rather than pay for crop insurance (wher-ever it is available), farmers prefer to simply avoid these crops.

Care and effort required in cultivation: Wheat and rice require less care and effort to grow than fruits and vegetables. Higher care for crops means reduced availability of farmers for alternate income-generating ac-tivities, whether crafts or wage labour.

Need to sell quickly due to lack of storage facilities: India has about 5400 cold storage units. So farmers don’t really have much of an option to store fruits and vegetables for later. The need to sell immediately means that they are at the mercy of current mar-

Why don’t Indian farmers grow more fruits and vegetables?

A government vegetable wholesale market (APMC) in Lucknow

Soyabean farms in Madhya Pradesh

by Richa Govil

AGRICULTURE

Consumption of wheat and rice has dropped by 1.2%, while demand for fruits and vegetables has increased by 2.3%.

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Richa Govil leads the RIF (Rural Innovation and Farming) Program at Ashoka India, and has extensive experience working with businesses owned by or interfacing with urban and rural poor. She can be reached at richagovil@yahoo.com

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Rural marketing, for long, has been seen as the sole solution to inclusive prog-

ress in developing countries. Despite little know-how, a vast majority of India’s rural population is engaged in a surging wave of business activity ranging from manufactur-ing to production and distribution. Although the significance of smaller, emerging busi-ness models has gained national interest, several challenges remain. In the words of former president, APJ Abdul Kalam, there is a pressing need for ‘Rurbanisation’, wherein the rural market economy can be improved through logistics, infrastructure and an effi-cient monetary system. Based on this, the concept that I have envisaged involves cre-ating a Rural Marketing Consortium called the Progressive Union of Rural Entrepre-neurs (PURE) to shape the present rural market to a ‘value-based system’.

Micro-enterprises have played a significant role in eradicating poverty, generating gain-ful self-employment and enhancing income-levels of the rural folk. But for these efforts to prove valuable, sustainable markets through direct linkages between producer and the consumer must back these enter-prises, to generate sustainable self-employ-ment. In the present scenario, NGOs and producers shy away from marketing as they lack the right knowledge, strategic posi-tioning, and the adequate tools to market their products. There needs to be a general awareness and systematic effort towards changing mindsets positively by building a common platform for rural producers and consumers to interact and exchange infor-mation. Functioning as the Rural Marketing Consortium, PURE attempts to provide business counseling, database access, profes-sional services, training, market information and prepare rural producers for the global market.

PURE will help enhance a sustainable liveli-hood by helping generate self-employment

and improving the market performance of rural producers. It will help prevent the col-lapse of traditional art and crafts, and build a ‘prosumer’ society, wherein producers also play a role in the consumption process. The main objective is to make the smallest of producers socially responsible and prevent rural youth from migrating to cities. This is done through numerous programs and activities organised by PURE, whose core members would be farmers, artisans, craft guilds, SHGs, co-operatives and NGOs. By training youth, small producers and artisans in capacity building, developing their skillset, and helping them access the relevant infor-mation, the consortium will turn around the present system where the focus is heavily on the needs and demands of consumers alone. In addition to this, financial institu-tions, corporates, consumer forums, mar-keting co-operatives and donors will pro-vide financial and legal assistance as and when the producers require it. The ultimate goal that PURE seeks to meet is that quality standards are kept high, and there is a con-tinuous scope for improvement to keep up with the increase in demand.

Certainly, as any other entity, setting up the Rural Marketing Consortium as a sole body, comes with several challenges as well. Some of the activities of the consortium might in-volve long gestation periods and may not provide immediate results. Similarly, it is pos-sible that all active members may not derive similar benefits (as pro-active members will exploit more benefits). Therefore, this would mean that members who remain dormant might not be able to access as much, and eventually leave. One of the biggest chal-lenges is to maintain the network of NGOs,

co-operative societies and donors as they might wish to progress independently at any given point.

The solution for this is for PURE to have a strong, core advisory team of planners, practitioners, policy-makers, bankers, mar-keting committees and academics. This ‘advisory’ will periodically monitor, evalu-ate and assess the progress of the activities of the consortium. Since their monitoring and evaluation will also adhere to the inter-nal audit, financial transactions will be kept transparent. On a social level, HR counsel-ors who act on behalf of PURE can help in solving problems amongst the members of the consortium so that work is inclusive and harmonious.

As a central body, PURE will help cultivate a ‘debt-free’ way of living by encouraging small producers to ‘borrow only when ab-solutely essential’. Through a collective ef-fort, economies of large-scale are facilitated; leading to good net yields at low costs so that margins are enhanced. By slowly steer-ing the market to become more sustainable, PURE will make more opportunities avail-able for rural youth to leverage their skills, in turn slowing the migration of rural youth to cities in search for employment. Young entrepreneurs can benefit from the men-torship provided by senior members who have the expertise and wisdom to advise the youth as well. PURE will not only help build a strong network for small producers to progress cohesively, but respect every-one’s independent capacity to trade and do business.

MARKETING PURELY RURALby Arvind Pitre

PURE will help enhance a sustainable livelihood by helping generate self-employment and improving the market performance of rural producers.

RURAL CONSORTIUM

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Ashoka Fellow Arvind Pitre has effectively combined business and social ser-vice to improve the lives of hundreds of physically handicapped people in Bombay as well as in remote rural areas of southern India. He can be reached at arvind_pitre@yahoo.co.in

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More than seventy Ashoka Fellows currently work with revenue-

generating or hybrid organizations, reflecting the recent growth of social business as an innovative change mechanism. This new generation of scale-oriented, context-based, grassroots social enterprise has required and spurred the arrival of new funding sources into the social space – venture capitalists, impact investors, social venture capital funds, and the like. Despite their entrance, however, a recent SustainAbility study reports that 72 percent of the social businesses surveyed identified raising money as their main challenge; today’s undeveloped ecosystem for social capital is preventing social investors and social businesses from connecting fruitfully.

Ashoka Fellow Vijay Singh is CEO of Ekgaon, a social business that provides finance and agriculture services to the rural poor. Vijay remains skeptical of today’s social capital. In fact, after ‘disappointing’ interactions with several venture capitalists over the past year, Vijay has sworn off approaching investors for two more years – until, perhaps, social investors have evolved to better reflect the ‘social’ in their names.

Vijay is probably not the first to become disenchanted with the venture capitalists who have stepped into the world of blended value. New investors, be they ‘impact investors’ or ‘venture capitalists’ (Vijay sees little difference between the two), carry into the social sector a focus on financial returns and often loathe social sector inhabitants. ‘Unrealistic principles and thought processes’, as Vijay describes them, fail to align with the goals and functions of social businesses, whose long-term nature and unique challenges to scale, market, and distribution are well documented. This isn’t, of course, to say that all social investors are untrue to their names, but it points to a failure in today’s social capital landscape. Given the disjointed presence of investors and businesses in today’s social space, then, how can we build an ecosystem that will bring the two together and unleash the potential of their partnership?

Aligning expectationsThe most obvious condition, reflected in Vijay’s frustration, is a need for realistic, aligned expectations among all parties regarding the nature of financial returns and time horizons on social business investment. For Vijay, this means allowing the current hype of social sector investment to die down; as long as ‘investment in the social sector looks sexy’ to investors – allured by the idea of ‘doing good’ but stuck in a Silicon Valley mindset – they will continue to frustrate real investment possibilities. A realistic mutual understanding between investors and social entrepreneurs will perhaps leave the space with fewer investors (having sifted out those who ought really to stay in the financial sector), but will facilitate more reliable and productive pairings between the remainder and social businesses in need of capital.

Capital infrastructureThe need for realistic expectations is tied into a larger need for expanded social capital infrastructure. ‘The landscape needs to be developed a lot more in terms of those kinds of people who can serve as intermediaries between funds and social enterprises, people who can work with the social enterprises to help them develop business plans and put in place business systems,’ explains Ashoka Fellow Adarsh Kumar of Livelihoods Equity Connect. In the financial sector, intermediaries like fund managers, financial consultants and stock exchanges play a crucial role in making investment as simple and effortless as possible. Yet very little parallel infrastructure has developed in the social sector to join social capital and social ventures, and even what does exist – efforts like web-based directories and ‘social stock exchanges’ – Adarsh describes as ‘very, very haphazard’. Developing cohesive infrastructure to aid investors and social businesses in connecting with one another could go a long way toward boosting social capital in the sector.

So how ought we make these connections? Adarsh highlights capital funds as a possible answer. Already positioned between individual investors and social businesses, Adarsh believes funds should take up this cause – providing investment-preparation resources to social businesses – as part of their mandate within the sector. “These funds themselves need to be staffed better in terms of having staff on board who can provide this kind of [pre-investment] assistance,” he explains. Such integration also solves what Adarsh sees as the double challenge related to social capital intermediaries: how does a social business identify good intermediaries, and then how does one afford to hire them?

Impact AssessmentWithin the social capital ecosystem, impact assessment has a crucial role to play in quantifying social returns for investors. A more standardized measure of social returns would make both the philanthropic and social investment processes more transparent and navigable for investors and intermediaries. Moreover, standardization would provide more ‘tangible’ social returns to investors (by providing a more direct parallel to financial returns), perhaps countering some of the current imbalance in investment return expectations.

Regarding impact assessment, however, both Adarsh and Vijay agree: real standardization of assessment remains a distant dream. They are both explicit about the practical limitations that may prevent it ever from overcoming today’s high-cost obstacles to social investment. Perhaps, then, we must concede that there may never be a single sector-wide standard for assessment. But the development and sharing of best practices and strategies for impact assessment, and perhaps more fundamentally the cultivation of an impact assessment culture for all ventures and interventions can help realize a base level of standardization. Such a base may, at the least, add translucence to otherwise opaque sector processes.

THE CAPITAL CONUNDRUMby Tadesh Inagaki

Social entrepreneurs are a possessed lot. Actually, that goes for all entrepreneurs,

doesn’t it? They are possessed by the prob-lem they are tackling. They are possessed by the innovative ideas that they want to implement. And, they are possessed by the vision of a world that has the ability to fight all kinds of problems. Yet, there is an element that they could allow them to be possessed by.

In their journey as social entrepreneurs, they empower themselves with knowledge and data. Through their studies and experi-ences, they become owners of information that will make ‘experts’ go green with envy. However, most often, we do not find this rich trove of knowledge reaching the common man, who could well leverage it to his advantage.

Most social entre-preneurs in the country, many of whom have spent several years in their chosen fields, picking up some of the most vital pieces of knowledge, are not seen by the mainstream media as leaders and experts. A little extra effort by the media will help them find such thought leaders across all possible fields across the country today. The media should know that these social entrepreneurs could empower them with more realistic data and knowl-edge.

While we can ask the mainstream media to take the first step forward to better con-nect with country’s leading social entre-preneurs who have their ears closer to the ground, there are a few steps forward the latter could take in order to enable the me-dia see them as possible resource centers and knowledge hubs.

Then the question that a few social entre-preneurs would raise is why would we want the media to talk to us? The world social en-trepreneurs must connect with and reach out to is ever expanding. Early enough in their journey, they face critical questions related to replication of their models, scal-ing, advocacy to a larger population, all of which require them to plan their commu-nication in an ever increasing geographical expanse. Moreover, they need to regularly

connect with resources such as funders and partners who need to hear and see their works. And, there is no denying that the me-dia offers us a platform that has a spread of captive audience we can never reach out to with the limited resources that we have. It is, therefore, important that a long-term outreach strategy, which includes a strong media strategy, be made a part of the or-ganization’s overall strategy. Most organiza-tions miss doing it at an e a r l y stage of their ex- istence b e c a u s e of the lack o f

a w a r e -ness of returns a wisely d e ve l o p e d and carefully execut-ed media strategy could offer.

An outreach strategy for most social entre-preneurs would mean getting featured in a sporadic manner in several publications and TV channels. However, a good outreach strategy is that which is integrated to the organization’s vision. It is important that the organization is clear on what it wants to achieve through the execution of a me-dia strategy. The objectives could be varied, some of which are: • To get community members know

about your unique model• To garner the support of other orga-

nizations• To establish thought leadership in your

chosen field• To attract funds• To attract talent• To spread to other regions

The organization’s objectives will define its outreach strategy. However, there are sev-eral other aspects that go into the develop-ment of an organization’s media strategy - positioning, messaging, content, geographical locations, language, to name a few.

An outreach strategy of an organization es-sentially articulates ways in which it would leverage the numerous choices of media available today. Traditional media such as newspapers, magazines, TV and radio, be-come a part of the media strategy and are not complete in themselves. There are sev-eral media platforms that an organization can have greater control of and, therefore, leverage in a more efficient manner. For in-stance, a certain section of an organization’s

target audiences can be connected to through the Internet and its

various platforms, where one will have greater freedom

to be innovative.

Developing and ex-ecuting an outreach strategy is best man-

aged when you either have the skill in your

team or you have out-sourced the service to an expert.

Social entrepreneurs need to take a call on the approach they would like to take. There are advantages in both models.

One of the most crucial aspects of a good outreach strategy is content. Information and knowledge that an organization builds over time, must translate into content, which becomes a powerful tool for execut-ing outreach strategy. The magic of an out-reach strategy can be best enjoyed when the organization has the internal culture and capacity to develop content, that can range from a simple documentation to creative forms for emerging media.

I come across several Ashoka Fellows who mention about the positive role media had played in the initial years of their journeys. Social entrepreneurs will find several of their challenges addressed when they be-lieve in the power of communications and decide to make it a part of their overall strategy.

YOUR EXPERIENCE, MY KNOWLEDGEby Manoj Chandran

Standardization of Impact Assessment remains a distant dream

SOCIAL CAPITAL MEDIA

Tadesh Inagaki is an undergraduate student at Princeton University, and was an intern at Ashoka India. He can be reached at tadeshd@gmail.com

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MININGRICHES, BURYINGFACES

TThe history of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) be-gins from the Notification of 1994. In fact, it was introduced

with the sincere intention to protect the environment as intend-ed in the Environment Protection Program 1986. EIA requires companies involved in mining to report possible impact of any such activities that are detrimental to environment. These com-panies also have to propose activities to minimise the possible impact or damages to the environment.

The Terms of Reference (ToR) are set by the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) that sits in Delhi. The standardization of the Terms of Reference is carried out, and based on the ToR supplied, the project proponent engages a consultant expert.

The preparation of the EIA is done on behalf, and for, the compa-ny. This is an interesting aspect of EIA where the consultant, spon-sored by the project proponent, is expected to do full justice to the study by giving a factual picture of the existing local scenario, which would set the base for deciding the fate of the project. Obviously, the outcome, in the name of EIA is a document that systematically, either conceals or compiles false information/data. Generally, it is a ‘cut-and-paste’ document.

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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTASSESSMENT

Although mining is a 2000-year-old profession, the government has only focused on revenue till date, and not the people

who bring that revenue, or the environment that is destroyed in the process. I have been working on this issue for more than a decade now, since the year 1997. My focus has been the unorganised mine workers engaged in the extraction of minor minerals in the state of Rajasthan.

One of the major struggles with the system is tackling Occupational Health and diseases. Long exposure to dust particles easily reduces a worker’s life expectancy by ten years, and notified occupational diseases like asbestosis, silicosis, and silica-tuberculosis, are common among labourers. These workers are also invariably denied compensation by their employers. We have been working on Occupational Health ever since we lost one of our community members to asbestosis. It was then we realized that most mine workers have no identity proof and employment proof since they are part of the large unorganized sector. After carefully researching the situation we decided to file a case with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) for those who had died of silicosis, an occupational disease.

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UNHEALTHY PRACTICE OF NEGLIGENCE

In the minds of the common man, mining conjures up the image of large-scale destruction of the ecology, displacement and corruption. As the country debates several of these adverse impacts of mining, FellowConnect decided to understand the issue from four perspectives – legal framework, inclusion (of natives), stone quarry workers and Environmental Impact Assessment. We are aware that these perspectives by no means provide a complete picture of the issue. We invited four social entrepreneurs, who work in this space, to share their view points on each of these perspectives.

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10EIA, by no means, helps put a halt to illegal mining. On the contrary, it has been encour-aging illegal mining by helping conceal vital facts.

EIA as toolThere are different laws governing mining. Penalties are clearly spelt. Yet, illegal min-ing activities are rampant, as the demand for ore increases. This does not mean that there should be no more laws. We have to explore possible opportunities at every level, which can help control illegal mining. Hence, we need to look at the process of EIA as a tool to control illegal mining. In fact, there is a High Court order/decision in the matters of Selur Mines vs Government of Tamil Nadu AIR 2003 Mad 188. The order states ‘....it will be for State Government to first know from all the relevant particu-lars whether the grant of lease is feasible or not.....’ (MMDR 1957). In reality, no State Government prepares feasibility reports. When ‘Welfare states’ show this attitude, one cannot expect consultants to become the ‘saviour’ of the environment or aim at controlling illegal mining.

If the project proponent brings any area under any kind of mining practice, which is not covered under EIA, and therefore fails to come within the legitimate premise of envorimental clearance (EC), the EC board should be put on hold to control illegal min-ing. EIA by itself can’t become a tool to control illegal mining.

Role of NativesLiterally, natives have no role to play despite their lives being at stake in mining areas. Communities are not informed about the projects that will be undertaken in their lo-cality well ahead. It is only when public hear-ings are declared that communities realize that a mining project is to come up in their area.

The natives have a say only on the day of a Public Hearing (PH), restricting them to the data provided in the EIA. In my expe-rience, there are few who can understand the whole process of a hearing and the role of the public in a hearing. For the public to understand the EIA and apply their mind in studying it in detail, and then respond in the most genuine manner, is hardly a possibility. The so-called experts who prepare the EIA could take as much as 90 days. Expecting the public to analyze it in 30 days and face the PH is a mockery of our democratic

system. The whole process expects a com-mon man to be the expert at everything, which is illogical. The end result, therefore, is that native communities are debarred from the entire process, not only the EIA process.

Strengthening EIAThe EIA process needs to undergo drastic changes. EIAs are to be prepared for any three of the seasons other than the mon-soon. This should be discarded only in the case of monitoring ambient air quality. How-ever, for the other aspects, it is important to know the extent of the impact on the environment, and especially, water bodies. The final disposal of the mining runoff al-ways affects various ecosystems, including fresh perennial water bodies. This aspect is completely ignored and should find a place in the EIA process.To strengthen EIAs, the following changes are needed:A. The 73rd & 74th amendment empow-

ers the local bodies; Gram Sabhas are supposed to decide the fate of villag-es. The recent SC judgement related to one of the Panchyats in Goa has given a clear judgement that the idea of de-

velopment was to be decided by local bodies i.e., Panchayats. In this context, EIAs should go through the scrutiny of the Gram Sabhas of the bodies where the project is coming. The consultants should meet the Panchayat bodies when they come down to collect the data of the area.

B. Opinion on feasibility needs to be sought, and it should be the part of EIAs.

C. Details related to the impact on the area/villages should be incorporated in EIAs.

D. It should be made clear whether the transportation of materials from the mining area would be by the public road and whether it is likely to cause public nuisance or not. In Goa, every fortnight, a person gets killed under the wheels of mining trucks.

E. The EIA should meticulously look at the carrying capacity of the area/village.

F. Submission of wrong/false data or con-cealment should invoke serious action against consultants.

G. The consultants should be compelled to publish notices of their visits to plac-es well in advance like that done on PH.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENTby Ramesh Gauns

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10However, with asbestosis our struggle is ongoing, since the National Institute of Occupational Health, in spite of repeatedly medically examining former asbestos mine workers, are yet to disclose the reports. Since 2007, twenty one of the former asbestos workers have died waiting for their medical reports.

While almost 98 percent of the mine workers belong to Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), our focus has been to include them in the development history of the country as participants and not just recipients. Even today many of them have no caste proof or even the BPL proof – depriving them of the nominal welfare schemes that the government unabashedly advertises before

every election. In a patriarchal state like Rajasthan, the role of women is crucial in a male dominated profession like mining as well. Yet, marginalised people and women work tirelessly to support their families - fighting the battle of identity in addition to poverty. In the Rajasthan Minor Mineral Policy there are preferential rights given for manual mine workers from SC and ST communities and war widows in allocation of mining leases and licenses. Given the fact that 48 percent of the women workforce in mining are widows (most men succumb to occupational diseases in their early 40s), we are demanding preferential rights for the widows of mine workers rather than war widows. Similarly, we have filed a public interest litigation challenging the government decision to club the preferential

categories of SC and ST

along with Other backward communities (OBC); in reality, it is the OBCs who are the mine owners and the mine workers belong to SC and ST. Hence, it is evident that from clubbing of the categories, only the OBCs and hence the mine owners will benefit since they already have the clout of money and power.

It has been a long struggle and will continue to be a long road ahead. However, we are hoping to bring in accountability in the system since a few good officials do exist; and the community of mine workers are emerging as leaders to take on the baton. It is a slow process as it is with any work on development: changing attitudes and ensuring that profits are shared, only after it has been earned through fair means. I am optimistic.

UNHEALTHY PRACTICE OF NEGLIGENCE by Rana Sengupta

Ramesh Gauns in an environmentalist and a social entrepreneur fighting against illegal mining in Goa. He can be reached at rsdgauns@yahoo.co.in

Ashoka Fellow Rana Sengupta works with cooperatives of stone quarry workers to create innovative systems that give them ownership of mining activities through his organisation Mine Labor Protection Campaign (MLPC). He can be reached at sengupta_rana@yahoo.com

48% of the women workforce in the mining

sector are widows

Natives have no role to play despite their lives

being at stake in mining areas

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The mining sector in India consists of two main segments - Major Minerals (iron

ore, bauxite, etc.) and Minor Minerals (such as stones). The labor force that works in the area of Major Minerals is controlled by the central government. It is, therefore, well or-ganized, in a way that there are pay commis-sions and special laws that govern its func-tioning. The Minor Mineral mining sector, on the other hand, is spread across the country. In the case of Major Minerals, it is concen-trated significantly in the North of India and few areas in the South. Stone quarries are treated as minor mines and left under the control of the state government. It is treated as a small-scale industry and understood to be ‘labor-intensive’. There are no specific laws that address the concerns of workers in the stone quarry sector.

Quarries have typically been a business that involves caste and community. On a social level, there are particular communi-ties that depend on the quarry for a source of survival. Ethnic communities like Oddar, Vadars and Od have been involved in oc-cupations related to digging earth, carrying sand, and breaking stones for many years. In 1993, the Central Government created a national policy for each state to follow the State Mineral Policy, in the backdrop of an increase in global demand for minerals. This led to the widespread use of machinery in mining, and the gradual inflow of socio-

economically weaker communities, such as the tribal.

Unlike in the case of Major Mineral mines, the predominant communities involved in stone quarrying are Vimukta Jaties, nomadic tribes. This presents a different set of issues for the Minor Mineral mine sector. First, since they are a migrant people, the preju-dice starts building against the so-called ‘outsider’. Vimukta Jaties are always looked at as outsiders. Because of this tradition, they are unable to create any attachment to their villages or claim any kind of social wel-fare, as the villages do not recognize them. Second, since their houses are not enrolled, the workers are not supplied water or oth-er basic needs, as villages completely disown them. The contractors disown these work-ers as well by dismissing them as migrant workers, uncertain of how long the work-ers will work for them. So, the companies do not keep a record of the workers. They are neither enrolled in any of the district labor department offices, nor are they reg-istered in a central labor department. Third, they are completely uncared for by politi-cal leaders, as they are never enfranchised. Bureaucrats ignore this community, as the workers do not make up for any of the census in the country. They are not covered under the education census, nor are they in the public census. In short, no surveys cover this community. Politically, these people exist

without being on record.

Around 26 percent of informal workers in India are engaged in the quarry sector, with a large number of the nationwide informal workforce also engaged in agriculture, fish-eries and construction. Workers, who have been involved in handpicking, and hand lift-ing, are losing their jobs because of the use of machinery, as the requirement of the quarry sector is becoming more technical. Youth, who are already working, need to undergo technical training and get a license to operate machinery. Today, almost 95 per-cent of the youth do not have knowledge of operating the machines or own a license.

Social entrepreneurs have a great opportu-nity to develop a technical training program for these migratory people who depend on the quarries for income. Since quarries can-not be shut down, this is an opportunity to train people in the aspects of materials such as sand, gravel and stone, so that they can look at their job more professionally and earn higher wages. Despite the advent of machines, at least 30-40 percent of those who are currently working in the quarries will continue to find a job, while the others will have to find alternate sources of em-ployment. The quarry sector, on the whole, has to undergo some sweeping changes as we progress. To begin with, it needs to be seen as a part of the mining sector.

TALES STONES TELL by Bastu Rege

Concerns with respect to adverse impact due to mining has for long been limited

only to environmental groups. Of late how-ever, the issue of mining in India, is also seen as an activity which threatens the very dem-ocratic fabric of the nation. The ‘opening’ up of the mining sector to private companies have added a new layer to the existing tiers of problems viz., increased corruption, scuttling of peoples’ voice and the control of governmental institutions by the mining giants. India’s mining affected communities are fighting back. Using a combination of grassroots mobilization techniques, public awareness and litigation, local communities with the support of NGOs and others, have been able to challenge some of the largest mining companies in the world.

The beginning of India’s public interest litiga-tion (PILs) on environment began with the Doon mining case in the Supreme Court in the early 1980’s. Over the years, a series of cases were filed in various courts includ-ing the Supreme Court. One of the most successful cases was the Supreme Court’s decision to stop mining by Kudremukh Iron

Ore Company (KIOCL). Over the last few years, the arena has shifted to specialized environmental courts such as the erstwhile National Environment Appellate Author-ity and now, the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

A new era of environmental litigation with respect to mining started about five years ago, when instead of national level NGOs approaching the court, affected communi-ties and local groups started exercising their statutory right to challenge faulty approvals before specialized environmental tribunals using information obtained under the Right to Information Act. These affected commu-nities were able to successfully stop planned mining activities in various parts of the country. The information obtained helped in not just proving that mining would be socially and ecologically disastrous, but also exposed corruption, undue favour and the loss to the exchequer as a result of min-ing. The strategy has worked despite all the hurdles faced in approaching courts. Some of the significant victories in the last two years can shed light on this. A good example would be when four mining projects were cancelled in Goa after local communities

proved before the en-

vironmental tribunal that false information was provided to secure approval.

In both these instances, the successes were due to the solid evidence collected by the local communities and NGOs. The use of RTI, scientific reports, ground level verifi-cation and existence of legal support/ aid were critical factors, which ensured the suc-cess. Given the fact that mining is bound to increase in the coming years it is critical that social entrepreneurs are able to sup-port the needs to communities affected by mining. Some of the areas that could be of help are capacity building, helping communi-ties understand the implications of mining, effective use of RTI, conducting alternative Environment Impact Assessment.

The setting up the National Green Tribunal (NGT) offers an opportunity for beginning a new era of litigation, since it has the power to award compensation for ecological dam-ages and loss of livelihood due to mining and related activities. Thus the aim of litiga-tion should be not just stopping new mining projects but to ensure that mining compa-nies pay for the damages caused to the live-lihood and ecology and pay for restoration of the ecology. However, civil society must develop the required institutional, technical and legal capacity to calculate damages and articulate the same before the Tribunal. This evidence-based advocacy and litigation is a challenging area to work, and is bound to help communities in saving their land and livelihood from mining.

LITIGATION MATTERS by Ritwick Dutta

26% of informal workers in India are engaged in

the quarry sector The aim of litigation should be not just

stopping new projects but to ensure that affected

people and ecology are adequately compensated

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Ashoka Fellow Ritwick Dutta is restoring transparency and accountability to India’s Environmental Impact Assessment processes in order to protect the environment and at-risk communities from encroaching big industries. He can be reached at ritwickdutta@gmail.com

Ashoka Fellow Bastu Rege is working with the informal labor force of nearly 3.5 to 5 million ‘identity-less’ migrants in the stone quarries of Maharashtra. Through his organization Santulan, he is working towards the transformation of marginalized communities. He can be reached at basturege@santulan.org

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The practice of perpetrating violence against women, by way of punishment,

on the pretext of protecting family honour has existed in communities across the world. In the Indian context, historic customs and practices have been used as a means of control and subjugation of the woman, since time immemorial. Be it the practice of sati and jauhar, dowry harassment, or domestic violence, they enjoyed some form of reli-gious or societal sanction, despite their bar-baric nature, even in the 20th century.

Ashoka Fellow Rehana Adib works on is-sues of women empowerment amongst the Jat communities, religious minorities and dalits. Through her organization Astitva, she has been fighting the practice of honour killings, that have been sanctioned and sup-ported by the khap panchayats, and the fat-was issued by the local religious leaders of the Darul Uloom of Deoband, for over two decades in the areas of Muzzafarnagar and Saharanpur in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

Rehana recollects stories of girls being shot at point blank range, and incidents of be-heading and stripping them naked in front of the panchayats, a common form of ‘pun-ishment’ meted out by the jaati and khap panchayats on a regular basis. Her interven-tions have been community focused, with awareness on constitutional and human rights being an important means of bringing about a change in the lives of the women and the freedoms they fail to enjoy.

It was in 2005 that Rehana became con-nected with the Imrana case, involving the rape of a young woman by her father-in-law. This matter turned particularly controver-sial when village elders declared her to be her husband’s mother and the marriage as void, treating this as a case of adultery and not rape. This was followed up by a fatwa issued by the Darul Uloom Deoband that she could not live with her husband any-more. Widespread media attention and in-tervention by the Women’s Rights Commis-sion ensured that Imrana’s father in law was charged with rape and criminal intimidation. Imrana and her husband, however, were socially ostracized, and had to move to her parents’ village to start life afresh.

But the truth of the matter remains that for every Imrana or Manoj-Babli case that gets mainstream media attention and support, there are hundreds of the same that are

unreported and forgotten. Rehana argues that in most cases, despite initial charges be-ing filed against the murderer, not a single member of the village is willing to come for-ward and give evidence in support of the victim, as a result of which the murderer is usually never sentenced. The common folk are either in tacit agreement that the girl probably ‘deserved it’, or are overpowered by the clout and power of the mighty khaps. Ashoka Fellow Flavia Agnes, a lawyer and women’s rights activist has a slightly differ-ent take on the matter. She strongly be-lieves that social change in this area can be achieved only by changing the mindset of the people, as opposed to attacking social institutions like the khap panchayats. The point she makes is that if people themselves do not recognize the khaps, then they will have no validity, but if people choose to regard them as relevant social institutions, they gain legitimacy.

Bringing a macro-level perspective to the issue, she emphasizes the lack of adequate access to redress mechanisms for commu-nities in villages, as one of the factors for khaps enjoying popular support. Local in-formal bodies like the khap panchayats are accessible, affordable, and are more in touch with the local issues of the community. Flavia argues that even in the case of elected bod-ies like the local panchayats, where 1/3rd of its members are women, they refuse to come forward to raise their concerns against moral policing and public killing of women in the name of honour that con-tinues. Be it the courts, the police, or the mindset of the common man, they are all structures working against women empow-erment, she concludes.

Ashoka Fellow Lenin Raghuvanshi, whose organization People’s Vigilance Commission for Human Rights, based in Varanasi, has

been fighting against caste related atroci-ties believes that the biggest challenge to grapple with has been that of the inability to implement the rule of law at the grass-roots level.

Traditional laws and customary practices in India have always upheld the elements of caste and patriarchy. Crimes against women and untouchables continue unabashed, Len-in claims, as the patriarchal system largely prevails in India. He further believes that we continue to live with absolute impunity, without respect for the rule of law. And when the right to choice for young people is still largely a matter of debate in cities and towns, it is no surprise that the younger generations in villages live in greater fear of exercising their right to choice in all spheres of life.

When asked what can we do to work around these parallel systems of gover-nance in villages, Lenin reiterates that these are complex issues without a simple answer. Traditional laws and customs have long pre-ceded the Constitution and its perceived ideals of equality and liberty, and are hard to wrench away from the people at one go. However, what is unquestionable and begs vocal denouncement are barbaric prac-tices like that of honour killings. Outlining a two-pronged approach towards this, Lenin stresses on the greater involvement of both the state and citizen sector organizations.

Lenin suggests that the state, on its part, must create mechanisms operating under the rule of law to ensure there is stricter watch, the implementation of orders ban-ning the practice of honour killings, and pro-viding support to victims. He also stresses on the role that citizen sector organizations can play to orchestrate dialogues and dis-cussions with institutions like the khap and jaati panchayats, around issues of human rights, and the supremacy of the Constitu-tion of India. Highlighting the role of individ-uals like Rehana Adib, Lenin reiterates that there is an urgent need for the coming to-gether of similar organizations to renounce the practices of honour-based violence that continues to prevail in India today.

HONOUR KILLINGS, DISHONOURED LIVESby Prianka Rao

HUMAN RIGHTS

The khap panchayats are accessible, affordable and

more in touch with the local issues of the community

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Prianka Rao works with the Law for All Initiative at Ashoka India. She can be reached at prao@ashoka.org

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Education is a labor-intensive activity that depends on well-implemented capac-

ity building policies. Trainers, teachers and students are the conduits of the process. Hence, people management plays a pivotal role in ensuring the success of endeavors in education. In other words, the raw mate-rial of social ventures in education is people. My experience with the NGO, Pratham, il-lustrates that we could explore innovative management policies that are not revenue generating and can still effectively create ownership along the implementation.

In April 2012, an online questionnaire was sent to all education entrepreneurs within the Ashoka fellowship network in India. The questionnaire was part of a larger study on entrepreneurship in education that was designed to identify and explore common issues faced by those heading initiatives on education. The fellows were invited to grade the relevance of a list of statements with the intent of measuring how challenging those statements were to their endeavors. The response rate was 23 percent. From this sample, 40 percent manage a non-revenue generating model (full charitable model) and 60 percent run ventures with either a full revenue generating model, or a hybrid financial model (combining reve-nue-generating activities and some financial complement through donation support).

In comparison, one of the outcomes ob-served was the wide disparity in the way they evaluated the empowerment of peo-ple as a critical capability for their work. The results suggest that entrepreneurs that un-dertake ventures with a revenue generat-ing component judge the ‘empowerment of people to take responsibility’ much less challenging than the leaders of non-revenue models. Only 17 per cent of the ‘revenue group’ classifies it as vital to their initiatives, while 75 per cent of the ‘non-revenue group’ defines it as crucial for their organizations.

This finding seems to converge with Ameri-can economist, William Easterly’s analysis about aid policies in his book ‘The White Man’s Burden’. According to Easterly, suc-cessful aid policies tend to be the ones that strive to tackle a piecemeal area of a social problem and do that with bold feedback and accountability mechanisms in the pro-cess. ‘The areas with piecemeal, visible, and

individually accountable outcomes are more likely to experience success (…).” (p.181, Easterly, 2006). In his analysis, Easterly ex-plains how a pragmatic business approach tends to create operations with stronger feedback and accountability built in.

Ashoka fellows are recognized for devel-oping innovative ways of solving social problems. Hence, they can be an impor-tant source of knowledge to illustrate how to cope with the accountability challenge. From the set of fellows that engaged with the exploratory part of the research about entrepreneurship on education, the work of Mr. Madhav Chavan with Pratham is the most inspiring. Certain aspects of Pratham’s management practices allow it to overcome such obstacles.

Pratham is a unique endeavor that engages 65,000 volunteers in the role of teaching in different programs across 21 states in India. There is a wide variety of programs that include pre-schools (Balwadis), after-school programs for basic literacy and numeracy (Read India), engaging mothers on teaching activities, and proper community schools called Urban Learning Centers with classes of all standards. The management model is concentrated on content development (methodology), training, and tracking. There are no investments in infrastructure and the core labor force for implementation is com-posed of volunteers. The light cost structure and simplicity of the model allows it to scale up impressively.

“As a social entrepreneur, instead of think-ing that you are going to make a difference, you can say: ‘I’m going to be the catalyst to make hundreds of thousands of people to make a difference’. That is the difference between a project mode and a movement mode,” explains Mr. Madhav Chavan.

Pratham’s implementation team comes from within the community and works to mobilize volunteers for teaching. This team also assumes the responsibility to train the volunteers and provide continuous moni-toring and support. After being trained, volunteers receive the teaching materials. The methodology is designed to be simple and didactical, with a weekly activity sched-ule that the volunteer should go through with the children. The supervisor accompa-

nies the completion of those activities and supports the volunteers by demonstrating how to implement the activities that were identified as difficult by the volunteers. At-tendance sheets, individual tests for every child enrolled, and activity schedule are the main tools the supervisors use to track the progress of each ‘school’. Monthly meetings with the volunteers of a village or a city are held to review the experiences and refresh training.

Additionally, a separate team runs periodic tests to assess the levels of learning of the children in randomly sampled villages that have programs in place. Beyond all the in-ternal tools of tracking, Pratham also con-ducts a larger survey on learning levels in rural India called ASER (Assessment Survey Evaluation Research), which helps advocate the cause and influence government poli-cies.

Drawing a parallel between Easterly’s analy-sis and Pratham’s activities, measurement is a stronghold of the model. Several tools are used to make the impact visible, and guar-antee feedback from the edge of opera-tions. The goals are not broad, both supervi-sors and teacher volunteers know exactly what is the fragment of the process that they should implement and when. The Read India program (the larger program), focused on basic literacy and numeracy, aims at help-ing lagging students catch up with the ex-pected level of learning for their age. It is focused on a piecemeal area of the much larger and multilayered education problem.

Infrastructure is most commonly generated from within the community or with another partnership, but it comes from community engagement to seek for available spaces and resources to implement the ‘schools’. This helps to keep the model low-cost and has an important side effect of increasing the engagement of the community on children’s education. “Because there are local people working with no compensation, more peo-ple are willing to help. The program is not seen as one person’s work. We think that community involvement begins with their participation in the planning process,” says Mr. Madhav Chavan.

EDUCATION: THE ACCOUNTABILITYCHALLENGE by Felipe Castro

Community engagement, an important ingredient for success, begins with a participative planning process

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

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Felipe Castro has extensive volunteering experience in India, Bangladesh and Nepal. He was also a volunteer at Ashoka India. He can be reached at felipe.m.castro@gmail.com

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‘My name is Akash Shyam Sunder Naik. I am nine years old. I used to

live in our old village, Advalpal in Bicholim Taluka in North Goa, but I had to shift to another place because of all the destruction happening due to mining in our village. The mining companies are breaking whole hills and they are spoiling our village. Because of this, there is so much pollution. The red dust is everywhere – it is entering our noses and mouths. Children in our village are falling sick, getting breathing problems and other

complications. I too, fell sick. I had repeated bouts of cough and cold and I missed a lot of school. I got typhoid. My doctor told me it is all because of the red dust in the air.Our springs are drying up and people’s fields are also drying up. After the mining began, wild animals from the forested hills started coming into our homes; some people got bitten by snakes. One day, after it rained heavily during the monsoons, a mudslide happened in the night on one of the mined hills. All the excavated and loosened mud caused by the mining turned to slush, slid down the hill entered houses from the rear and exiting from the front sweeping away the houses along with it into the fields. People were sleeping in the houses. This was the turning point. We felt we couldn’t

take it anymore. I filed a case so all this does not happen in the future. I would like to tell all children that they may be just children but they too should come forward to help close that iron-ore mine in our old village. Close all mines. Only if mining is stopped, will our houses and our villages remain. And only then will we get water. If these mines are not stopped we will not get water in the future. That’s why I filed a PIL. I want to tell all children that all mines in Goa need to be closed. My request to everyone is please help us close down the mines that are destroying Goa.’

For more stories of young changemakers, visit the Impact Series on the Ashoka India website

THE STORY OF A YOUNG CHANGEMAKERby Akash Naik

Quarter 2 1 June 2012

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