Disaster in Gujarat: a challenge to the people

THE EARTHQUAKE in Gujarat in the early morning of the Republic Day has indeed been a great disaster. The pain and the trauma, the destruction and the desolation are all awesome. In this article I propose to address three questions. First, how do you make the Gujarat Government answerable to the people for honesty and efficiency in relief and rehabilitation? Second, how can the people of Gujarat organise themselves to meet this challenge? Third, what will be the unseen and unacknowledged problems left behind by this tragedy?

Let us take the first question - the efficiency and honesty of the State Government. All State Governments in India are largely bankrupt financially. Most of what our governments collect by way of taxes has to be paid out to the staff for undeservedly large salaries, and what little is left is in the main wasted. After all this, if something remains, it is spent on what is called ``economic development''. Two examples should be enough to prove my point. Local bodies over most parts of India do not get their financial grants promptly and new educational institutions cannot get any grants whatever. The reason for all this is what is called in technical language ``certain fiscal policies''. In simple language it is reckless spending on wasteful things and no one to ask any questions. Very few in India know that now any Five Year Plan costs us something like one lakh crores of rupees, but we have reached a level of passivity where no one starts a debate and asks the simple question ``where is all this money going?''.

Any bankrupt State Government has to rush for money to the Central Government. In this particular case the Centre, according to newspapers, will give a blank cheque or, unlimited funds, to the Government of Gujarat for relief and rehabilitation.

In addition to what the Central Government will ``give'' and what the Gujarat Government can ``mobilise'', a lot of additional money will be coming in. A good deal of funding will come from the World Bank. International relief agencies will also help. A good deal of money will definitely come from Indians living abroad who feel for this country. A great deal will also come from the people of India. The more generous among the business houses will also give substantial funding. Indian voluntary organisations like the Red Cross will send their contributions in kind. Newspapers will appeal to the generous impulses of the readers; above all some very fine voluntary organisations in Gujarat will not only raise money, but will start work at the grassroots level. This is what I saw in the Latur earthquake in Maharashtra at the end of 1993 when a similar equally deadly earthquake struck there.

Relief and rehabilitation

In regard to the immediate response to any such disaster, the governments generally do reasonably well. It is in the next two stages - relief and rehabilitation - that, almost as a rule, the performance of the governments is very poor. In the Latur earthquake, outstanding work was done by voluntary agencies and industrial houses; a non-official committee appointed by the people of Maharashtra and presided over by a retired judge was critical of a good deal of bungling and waste in the way the Maharashtra Government spent the money. The killer cyclone in Orissa in the recent past was met very inadequately by the State Government; there was a scandal in that State about purchase of some relief materials at exorbitant prices. A few years ago, the earthquake in the sub-Himalayan Uttar Pradesh (now Uttaranchal State) needed relief on a scale much larger than the State Government could provide. In Gujarat itself, some years ago, the drought was handled by methods which gave rise to serious complaints of widespread corruption, especially in the purchase of fodder for starving animals. It strikes me that fodder seems to be the favourite food of some human beings across India. We have to admit that corruption is pervasive and deep-rooted in our administrative and political systems. Where large funds are to be spent, the sweet smell of money overpowers many people who handle this money. The people of Gujarat must realise this, and what they should do I am answering below.

Plan of action

This brings me to the second point. How should the people of Gujarat organise themselves to meet this challenge? The best way to do it is to align with voluntary agencies of renown. There are many such in Gujarat which have a record of working with the people. These organisations must form a network and appoint a working group with a retired High Court judge in the chair. This working group should straightaway announce that they will demand perfect accountability and transparency in the spending of money by the government for relief and rehabilitation work. They will not tolerate corruption, waste, stupidity and diversion. Such a demand is rather vague. It must be made more specific by saying that every Monday evening the State Government will issue a press note in detail giving the accounts of the monies spent in the districts and the achievements for that expense. There must be a Plan of Action by the State Government which must be easily available in print to anyone who pays a small price for it. This booklet should be in Gujarati language and should be easily understood by every one. It is important that all the expenditure, and actual work of rehabilitation is measured against the pre-announced Plan of Action. If any item in this plan undergoes a change, that also must be clearly announced.

Ministers must be discouraged from visiting rehabilitation sites. I saw this in Latur and noticed that every one in rehabilitation work had to rush to welcome the dignitaries. The same applies to persons called ``authorities'' from Ahmedabad. All rehabilitation staff should be given clear guidelines for their work, should be left to do their work and should hold themselves accountable and answerable. The network of voluntary agencies should also address press conferences frequently and criticise strongly any failure on the part of the State Government, but must equally praise any good work done.

Gandhian workers

Mahatma Gandhi guided the earthquake relief work in Bihar in 1934 and ensured that the expenditure on the workers was kept to a minimum and yet the work was of superb quality. I think some persons in Gujarat should read the detailed description of these Gandhian workers in Tendulkar's authoritative biography of the Mahatma; it still remains a model.

The people must ensure that local bodies like municipalities and panchayats are given a proper role in rehabilitation, since they are more familiar with the local problems. The people must insist that rehabilitation assistance must be offered to any one who needs it without distinction of religion or caste. There must be priorities - children first, next the old and women, and next others, besides rebuilding the houses.

The philanthropy of the industrial houses must be welcome but they should be briefed and helped and guided in their task and should be advised that overspending on small works must be avoided so that the same amount reaches larger numbers of people. The voluntary agencies also must hold themselves fully answerable for the funds and the work. They must welcome widespread participation by all sections of people - in Gujarat and outside Gujarat.

The entire work of physical and infrastructural rehabilitation must be completed on a time-bound plan, and should not be allowed to linger on like the Bhopal gas tragedy. Those who raise funds and those who give the funds must carefully assess the eligibility and the competence of those voluntary agencies who seek the money. About three months later the government must, without fail, publish a report which shows the work done by the government and by the people's organisations.

It is very likely in this case, as has happened in many other cases, that relief in kind which is in the pipeline will keep coming long after the need has ceased. The wise use of this belated aid must be left to voluntary groups. I would go to the extent of saying that in all rehabilitation work, the government must treat the voluntary groups as equal partners in a stupendous task like this.

Unseen problems

Now, the third and last question - the unseen and unacknowledged problems. Any such disaster hits the more vulnerable group the hardest. Among them are children. At Latur several voluntary agencies with good intentions took away the orphaned children to special institutions in big cities far away; this was a mistake since it leads to uprooting of children who are already hurt.

A great deal of rehabilitation - physical or psychological - must be done largely by the community within the community. This simple but important point is often overlooked.

Another problem with children who have lost their parents and elders is one of total bewilderment and disbelief. They become autistic and non-communicative and remain so for many years. A great many people, who are more concerned with house construction, don't recognise such problems. We need child psychologists with the great virtue of patience who can deal with such children to help them rebuild their lives. By and large, children, many women and the old may be unable to rebuild their lives after any disaster and it requires both skill and compassion to see that such deep psychological damage is reduced to a minimum.

In all this, newspapers, the radio and the television can help a great deal. Stories of courage and achievement must be highlighted and failures, if they occurred, must be frankly pointed out. The overall message however must be one of hope and a firm resolve.

This disaster should be used by the people of Gujarat to come together. Such crises will continue to happen; it is the people's response which is everything.

D. K. OZA

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