Subject: [aid-austin] Chunikaka's answers and special CSH Date: Mon, 20 May 2002 11:28:04 -0500 From: Sarang Shidore Organization: Flomerics Inc. To: AID - Core Group CC: gautamdesai@hotmail.com Folks, I had an enlightening chat with Chunikaka Vaidya, chief of Lok Samiti, on Saturday. He answered the questions raised since the last meeting. A summary of his answers is given below. Chunikaka is a very forceful speaker and seems to be brimming with energy. I established a good rapport with him on the phone. His answers were clear and to the point. He is optimistic that things will cool down in Ahmedabad. He had praise for Gill's efforts in containing the security situation. He has met Gill personally to arrange for the return of some of the refugees. This is proving to be difficult as "VHP and Bajrang Dal activists are in an extremely belligerent mood" (quote). However, he thinks that the pressures generated from outside the state are forcing some action to restore peace. PLEASE review the answers below and get any fresh questions you may have in to me by tonight. I will be calling Chunikaka tomorrow morning. Anybody who wants to join the call is welcome to show up at my place around 9 a.m. in the morning (I have a speaker phone). I suggest a special CSH for Gujarat this Tuesday evening at 7:30 p.m. It will take less than an hour to discuss and take a vote, if everything goes well. Hopefully, we will be able to resolve all outstanding issues to everybody's satisfaction by Tue evening. Sarang > > > Questions ("NGO" refers to Lok Samiti) - > > 1. How did the NGO come up with the estimates for rehabilitation? How > were the seed amounts for each trade determined? Chunikaka works closely with an organization called "Kalam Khush" in Ahmedabad which is a gramudyog oriented organization providing livelihood to rural small-scale and home industries in traditional occupations such as masonry, carpentry, kiosks, ironwork, soap making, etc. It has been in existence for nearly 50 years. Chunikaka got the estimates for the cost of seed money for the various trades directly from their experts. > > > 2. What is the information the NGO has about the relief done by the > government? At last, over the last 2-3 weeks the government has begun sending a fair amount of food and water to the camps. Although it is not quite enough, Chunikaka feels that relief should not be his priority any more. > > > 3.What are the relief measures the NGO is carrying on currently for the > riot > victims? How is this being currently funded? Chunikaka is not carrying out any active relief activities anymore. He is focused on rehabilitation. > > > 4. Since the NGO does not have funds to rehabilitate all the victims, > how will > the NGO decide on which people will get relief? Lok Samiti has already drawn up a list of priorities based on camps. For example, Chunikaka mentioned that the 120 families in "Mali Fatehshah na Dargah" camp would be the first to get seed money from him, followed by the Dani Limbda camp (100 families). His list is based on his length of interaction with refugees and some commitments he has already made, and also on the parts of the city which become secure first (see 6) below) > > > 5. Is there a concrete plan for resettlement? Please provide details of > the plan. Yes, the first priority is getting "kaccha" homes built. This is getting to be an emergency as the monsoon is expected to hit in six weeks. Many of the current camps have no shelter from the rain. > > > 6. Shouldn't the NGO try to concentrate on relief efforts vs. > rehabilitation, as the violence is still raging and the security > situation still grim? What is the rationale for proceeding with > rehabilitation efforts now? Chunikaka feels that money sent from outside should not be used for relief anymore. Partly because government aid has started to arrive at these camps. He also feels that relief money for daily meals etc. is quite substantial and there is no longer term payoff. He prefers to focus on rehab work. He is optimistic that the security situation will improve, especially for some neighborhoods. In any case, he feels that he should not wait to raise funds till total calm returns. Due to the impending monsoons, the money should be ready at his disposal the very day things are secure enough. He said this could happen "1 week from now or 4 weeks for now, no one can tell." (quote). > > > 7. What are the standards for monitoring a project such as this? Once the kaccha home are constructed and seed money for livelihood disbursed, Chunikaka wants to let the refugees alone. He did not seem to have a concrete plan for long-term monitoring. I could ask him further follow-up questions on this. > > > 8. How can such efforts help in repairing the overall social fabric? > Will they make a significant contribution in doing so? Rebuilding homes in former neighborhoods is the top priority, followed by seed money for livelihood. Chunikaka and his colleagues are working on a model in which residents of the former neighborhoods give guarantees for the safety of the returnees. This is being mediated by Gill's new appointees. He is hopeful this could work. The government has started handing out compensation based on the X crore it has officially released. However, the actual money reaching the refugees is a pittance. They are being paid Rs 4,000 per family for rebuilding their homes, which is not at all enough. His budget includes Rs. 10,000 for this, which will make it approx Rs 15,000 per family. This is enough to build makeshift "kaccha" homes that will survive at least one monsoon. > > > 9. Further details about the current interaction of the NGO with > relief camp inmates will be appreciated. He is interacting with the inmates of the following camps: Mali Fatehshah na Dargah camp Dani Limbda camp Shah Alam camp Daryakhand Ghummat camp Bapunagar camp Amanchowk camp > > 10. What was the reason for choosing the different tools. Is it based on the small scale industries prevalent in Gujarat today or based on the profile of the people in the camps? Yes, the profile of the camp inmates is small tradesmen(women) and craftsmen(women). 11. What is the socio-economic profile of the displaced people? I am expecting that they are all not from the lower economic status? All the camp victims that Lok Samiti is in contact with come from the economically disadvantaged section of society. 12. I understand the urgency for action and funding asap due to the coming onset of the Monsoons. But, I find the messages in Q&A 6 and Q&A 8 to be contradictory. As per 8, what would be invested at Rs10k/ home will probably become a one time expense - more in tune with relief rather than rehab - and hence contradicotry with the sentiment expressed in <6> earlier. Your comments? A clarification - these homes are expected to survive for a much longer period than one monsoon, as the inhabitants will continue the building and reinforcement tasks as they settle back into their daily work routine. 13. If there is no plan for monitoring the progress and disbursal of these funds, as mentioned in <7> then how do we rate the success/efficiency of this effort? Again, I acknwledge the implied need of urgency, but I suggest that there be some more thought on monitoring. I am sure about Chunikaka's good will and energy, but if I can presume that we have not worked with him in the past, then maybe we should have some yard sticks for progress made. Or have we already worked with him in the past? It would be more practicable to invest some thought in making a plan for this. If you already have some such data, then please correct me. This is a valid point that we will address by requesting Lok Samiti to provide regular updates. Future site visits will also take care of this. I myself am hoping to visit in November. 14. If the end goal idea is to have a kaccha home per household that should last one monsoon, then doesn't a plan for Rs. 10k/household seem too expensive. Os it this including maybe more than cost of building a kaccha house? Please see (12).