Does Jharkhand need to look at demography-led development model from a different angleIJ Many would answer in negative but not someone who has devoted almost 30 years working for indigenous people in Jharkhand and knows the demography like the back of his hand. Noted social activist Ashok Bhagat, who happens to be the lone person from Jharkhand to get Padma Shri award this year, believes that the whole approach needs to be replaced with a more rational and accommodating vision.
The tribal land has been divided between tribal and non-tribal where differences were allegedly more pronounced due to disparity in growth of different demographic groups. The much felt need to end alienation of people who braced non-democratic ideologies and stood up against their own government could be addressed by adopting a new approach in consonance with the aspirations of the ‘son of the soil’. In the eyes of the recipient of the prestigious award, indigenous people need to be recognized, their claim on ‘jal, jangal, jameen’ must be acknowledged as legitimate and others should link with them as tribals are, as they were, the mainstream in the tribal land.
“In Jharkhand adivasis are the mainstream and we need to connect to them rather than the other way round. If others connect with them then those who have deviated (from society) will automatically come back to the mainstream,” said Bhagat. Bhagat who is secretary of Gumla (Bishunpur)-based institution Vikas Bharti, has been conferred Padma Shri for serving the marginalized section of the population and providing succor through several livelihood programmes conducted in pockets where government projects rarely showed any impact. The institution has also been conducting skill-based training programmes for the people of naxal-hit area of Gumla. For a government yearning for inclusive growth, people with experiences of executing projects for marginalised could be instrumental in putting an end to the economic and social apartheid of the section of the society.
“Conferring honour is a way to recognize someone’s work but experiences of those who have been doing work for the society should be used,” maintained Bhagat. Bhagat, a graduate from Banaras Hindu University, has transformed Vikas Bharti and the institution which is identified for works done for Bishunpur is all set to spread wings to other parts of Jharkhand to replicate the model of social work to end imperfections in growth so that the true potential of the State can be harnessed in a better way to present Jharkhand as a model state to the rest of the country. The only hurdle that the social activist claims is the mindset of the bureaucracy and the step motherly treatment meted out to the rural democratic institutions.
“We have visions for the entire State. Not just Bishunpur but we want to develop whole Jharkhand into a model state by replicating the model of Bishunpur everywhere,” asserted the secretary of Vikas Bharti. According to Bhagat, an egoist bureaucracy and incongruous development policies have been at the core of the failure to address problems of uneven growth and that the decentralization of power of institution higher up the democratic setup holds answer to most of the problems of Jharkhand. A compassionate bureaucracy that acknowledges tribal community’s proprietorship over natural resources and more power to panchayati raj institutions is the panacea for all ills which have held the State back on the path of development.
“There is an old finding that more rights should be granted to villages and everything should be done with their consent. This is a solution to most of the problems. Besides many other facts, government system is full of egoism and nobody is ready to accept this,” maintained Bhagat.