POLITICAL DIARY

New Delhi, 10 January 2009

National Shame

LIVING LIFE BETWEEN STRIKES

By Poonam I Kaushish

In this season of economic disgruntlement, clearly strikes are the flavour of the season. Kudos to the Government for breaking the 3-day strike by oil employees of various public sector undertakings demanding higher wages. Talking tough it was made plain to them that they were not indispensable and would be sacked and arrested. It worked magic and the oilmen were back at work. Thank God, no more serpentine queues at petrol pumps all over the country. A time when India ran dry and came to a grinding halt, literally!

The issue is not whether the oilmen’s grievances were justified or not. Neither is it about exploitation or redress. True, they may have genuine grouses. But certainly this is not the way to go about getting the Government to see reason. But why blame them alone? All stand guilty, including our political parties of using strikes as self-serving, muscle flexing and blackmailing tactics to get what they want. See how the truckers continue to hold out, never mind the hardships caused to the aam aadmi with food prices skyrocketing and essential commodities becoming scarce.

In fact, no day passes without a strike somewhere. Be it a mohalla, district or State. The story is the same. Curse all you want, it’s for a cause, remember. Plainly, India thrives on protests. The word strike instills a sense of dread and has perfected the old saying “jiski laathi uski bhains” and translated it into the modern Oxford dictionary lexicon: hartal. It cripples life and brings the country to a grinding halt.  In one fell stroke, knocking out the concept of good governance. A sure give away of free India out of control. Whoever coined the phrase that ‘your freedom ends where my nose begins,’ was correct.

Tragically, India has travelled a long way from Tilak’s “swaraj is my birth right” to “strikes is my birth right.” Today, every other section of the society plans strikes as a matter of routine.  Bringing things to such a pass that it is like living life between strikes. Be it labour strikes, political protests or chakka jams which bring life to a standstill, replete with violence, mayhem, deaths et al.

The much-prided National Capital numero uno road --- Parliament Street resembles a battle ground. Heavily barricaded with baton-wielding policemen, fire engines and police vans, it stands vandalized every other day by slogan-shouting masses protesting about something or the other. The cause is immaterial. It is all about registering ones protest, the louder the better. Success is measured in terms of causing maximum dislocation and discomfiture to the people. Bringing work to a standstill in the prime business district with the entry-exit points repeatedly sealed.

The havoc is not limited to New Delhi. The Union Capital was cut-off from the rest of the country in June 2007 due to the week-long Gujjar agitation for a bigger slice of the reservation pie through downward mobility. Leaving over 40 dead, hundreds injured and Rs 12000 crore of trade losses. An aghast Supreme Court called it a “national shame”. But it was water off the strikers back.

Consider, Manipur experienced 52 bandhs and 43 blockades in the 2007-08 that led to losses to the tune of Rs 504.32 crore and Rs 236.68 crore respectively. On an average a bandh costs the State Rs 6 crore a day and a blockade Rs 2.5 crore. Worse, the three National Highways passing through the State were under the spell of economic blockades for 139 days from April 2006-December 2007. Land-locked Sikkim lost a staggering Rs 7 crore per day in June last when the National Highway between Siliguri and Sikkim was blocked by agitators demanding Statehood for Darjeeling.

According to the Confederation of Indian Industry, in Kerala a single day's shutdown costs the State Rs 700 crore. Divided by the State’s population it translates to a cost of Rs 233 per Keralite. In 2006, Kochi was shut down for 11 days, the State Capital, Thiruvananthapuram, for 19 and Thrissur lost 59 days to hartals.

More. The State with the maximum strikes or bandhs is West Bengal, where the average per year number is 40-50 (ranging from a couple of hours to a maximum of 2 days). Followed by Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. According to the latest Union Labour Ministry, 386 strikes and 279 lockouts took place in 2007.  While 9,52,000 workers participated in strikes, over 95,000 workers were affected due to lockouts and over 8.36 million mandays lost. Thus, nearly 90% mandays were lost during the entire reform period. Analyse the cost the nation suffers!

Part of the current paradox is explained by the changed notion of strikes aka hartal aka bandh as a form of protest. The original concept was centred on the logic that the only way for a group of disempowered people to shake the system was to agitate. From a simple gherao for more wages to a voluntary hartal against policy decisions. But slowly perversion set in. A strike could be effective only if stoppage of work could not be overcome easily by the system. Therefore, the strikers use their power base, including violence, to stall anything that spells change from the set routine. Never mind that in the long run it is detrimental for the country and the people.

Recall, in August 2003, the Supreme Court had expressed its anguish over strikes. Upholding the Kerala and Calcutta High Courts’ judgments declaring strikes as “illegal and unconstitutional way of collective bargaining”, it had ruled, that Government employees had no “fundamental, legal, moral or equitable right” to go on strikes whatever the cause, “just or unjust”. Pointing out that aggrieved employees had other options available to them, the Bench opined: Strikes as a weapon is mostly misused, which results in chaos and total maladministration.

The Apex Court’s judgment also upheld the Kerala Court’s fine distinction between hartal and a bandh.  It held that hartal was a form of passive resistance and a call for it did not involve force. While a bandh was an enforced muscle flexing act which interfered with the freedom of citizens.

Unfortunately, trust our “law abiding” netagan to circumvent the Court’s ruling.  They simply rubbished and replaced their call for bandh by hartals.  Failing to realize that what is sauce for the goose is also sauce for the gander. Wherein strikes are just a camouflage for non-performance, self-glorification, to gain sympathy or wriggle out of working hard. Ignoring that it all boils down to what you are willing to spend on renting a crowd, giving it a free trip and a jagha darshan.

But it's now not easy to wish away a bandh, however damaging it may seem to the image-building process. It has now become a weapon for the Opposition which resorts to it when it feels like venting out its frustration or desperation for power. So what if in 2004, the Supreme Court of India fined two political parties, BJP and Shiv Sena for organizing a bandh in Mumbai as a protest against bomb blasts in the city.

Importantly, people are fed-up of strikes and bandhs each time some neta gets a headache or a gripe. According to a recent survey, three out of four people want a legal ban on strikes, 8 out of 10 favour severe punishment or hefty fines for the leaders. Surprisingly, only 15% believe in strikes, 10% in voluntary participation and 60% supported Gandhiji’s form of civil disobedience, peaceful dharnas, rallies and candle lighting in genuine cases of injustice.

In sum, in a milieu wherein adoption of strong-arm tactics to extract one’s pound of flesh has become second nature, it is time to cry a halt to the political nautankis and strikes. The oil and truckers strikes have exposed how dangerous this game has become. No longer can we simply dismiss strikes as a system’s failure. The right of the citizen is paramount. How long will our chalta hai attitude persist. With each shrugging his shoulders and asserting ki pharak painda hai.  Time now to call a bandh against hypocritical parties and our moribund State. What do you say? ---- INFA

(Copyright India News & Feature Alliance)