As part of the larger rehabilitation plan the discussions focused on:- Shelter Livelihood Trauma Counseling & Reconciliation Before the main meeting began, issues regarding the existing condition of camps were discussed. With monsoons having set in, problems of sanitation and hygiene were discussed. A need was felt to upgrade the facilities in the camps. In cases where prevention of water logging is not possible due to the topographical nature of the land, a location shift of camps was also discussed.
The outcome of those discussions was:
[1] Assessments of sanitation and water logging conditions in the camps to be made by Monday evening by a team of technical people and field organizations comprising of Raju Dipti from Pravah, Sameer Shah of Asag and H.P Mishra.
[2] Parallel processes of identifying other spaces to be undertaken by Azam and Ali Azghar, in case conditions in the camps cannot be improved and people have to be relocated. This option proved difficult because the community was unwilling to move as was conveyed to us during our field visit after the meeting on the same day to Jehangir Nagar, Vata and Char Toda Kabrastan, Gomtipur.
[3] Investing in a dedicated staff for maintenance of Sanitation facilitaties. On the issue of Garbage Disposal it was decided that CI should have its own system of Garbage Disposal where people are hired by CI for the coming three months and sanitation facilities are ensured.
Action Aid would explore options of putting such a system in place. The work would be done in co-ordination with the Municipal Corporation.
The other points discussed during the meeting were:
Recharge the water wherever there is water logging Apply the Rainwater harvesting methods by building a structure which is 30ft deep and work can be completed within 5 days.
The discussions focused on the following aspects of Rehabilitation Repair & Rebuilding Shelter, Restoration of Livelihood Trauma Counseling & Healing
1. REPAIR & REBUILDING SHELTER
The affected families were estimated to be 40,600 all over Gujarat, out of which 28600 families (60% approx.) are estimated to be based in Ahmedabad and the remaining 12000 families (40% approx.) are estimated to be based in the rest of Gujarat. In Ahmedabad : The following table shows the no. of affected families which are divided into four categories on the basis of the extent of the losses suffered. The figures mentioned against each category are the percentage of families out of the total 28600 thousand families in Ahmedabad. In Gujarat : The following table shows the no. of affected families which are divided into four categories on the basis of the extent of the losses suffered. The figures mentioned against each category are the percentage of families out of the total 28600 thousand families in the rest of Gujarat Costing for Shelter
An exercise for working out the costs for repair and rebuilding was undertaken. The following table describes the costs that were assigned to each category based on the varying extent of the losses.
Total amount required for 40600 affected families in Gujarat for repair and rebuilding comes to Rs.70 crores (68 crores ).
The ratios between “Vulnerable” and the “Others” category in Ahmedabad are as follows:
Total Amount of Grants would be 39 crores
Total Amount of Loans would be 29 crores
Total Amount required for repair and rebuilding would come to Rs.70 crores approx.
It was discussed that special care needs to be taken for the bottom 20% which
have no earning member in the family.
2. LIVELIHOOD
During discussions on livelihood it was felt that this aspect of rehabilitation as very vast and it needed a certain amount of survey. The points mentioned below would form the basis for survey to be undertaken by volunteers for the survey on Livelihood.
Self Employed people who cannot be re-employed with economic assistance due to Social Barriers
· Unwilling to go back to wage employment
· Self employeda) Women based employment & b) Male based employment
· Household headed by Women as the major earning members
The discussions moved ahead on the following basis of required interventions - Making assets available to all those who have suffered loss of movable properties. Making assets or equipments available for Agriculture. Grants to Self Employed People.
Breakup between Self Employed and Wage Earners
Nearly 1, 00,000 people are estimated to be earners out of 40,000 families.
No. of families which are headed by single women may be at least 5,000 families
The whole issue of Livelihood would need to be divided into Any kind of Self-Employment areas Cash Flow Projection Returns from the Self-Employment
According to an approximate estimate if Rs.10,000/- is provided as soft loan to 100,000 earners in the 40,000 affected families an amount of Rs.100 crores is required for restoration of livelihood.
3. PSYCHO-SOCIAL REHABILITATION & RECONCILIATION
Some of the activities for Trauma Counseling have already been going on through the volunteers from NIMHANS Banglore & they have also been training some volunteers from different organizations.
Trauma Counseling has to be divided in broader categories with special focus on Women who have suffered from Sexual Violence Children who´ve suffered from severe trauma seeing women suffering sexual violence
There are some steps which can be taken up for this issue: - Larger no .of people should be mobilized who are taking up movements in protest Involving Political Parties.
The stress was Healing & Reconciliation should be concentrated only in the Ahmedabad Community. A difference of voices was heard at times that women had not participated in these riots whereas there were incidents at Naroda Patia Area where the women participation was clearly seen.
Reconciliation should be done at a broader level involving the media via Daily newspapers in vernacular language & not in English Newspapers which appeal to only a smaller section of the society. Media can play a very important role in community healing process and should be invited for all the meetings of Citizens´ Initiative as they can help in digging the real history & re-writing it for people.
Mr.Hosla Prasad Mishra from Kamdar Swasthya Suraksha Mandal, shared his experiences of Community Healing Process going on in KSSM´s work areas. He mentioned that they have been organizing night meetings where Hindus as well as Muslims both are active participants and they discuss on issues of community healing & reconstruction of human spirits. KSSM is going to organize a protest against the Government of Gujarat in the end of August after mobilizing a larger no. of people from different sectors of the community.
Ms. Jabeen Chunawala from SAATH suggested that while things are taking place in the process of community healing there should be a support activity going on for women & children so that their minds are diverted. Volunteers also suggested that there should be parallel schools going on in these camps as the existing schools are full.
Mr. Sameer Shah from ASAG, suggested that issue of Livelihood should be combined with Community Healing in following ways: - Women Can be involved in Material Building Activity for Rebuilding the houses Identifying the women from the camps & training them as teachers. Identifying the women who can run the whole community livelihood by taking up one trade & involved in its manufacturing, marketing and selling.
Summary of the sessions by Pavan Ahluwalia from Mckinsey Private sector should be involved in Rehabilitation & not Relief Shelter - Priority to be given to the most vulnerable @ 40 % in grant and 30 % in loans Livelihood, Priority to Self-employed, & Wage earners Healing & Reconciliation-Active participation of media to be sought.
Summarising discussions in the meeting into points:- Broad base further the membership of this platform (all Muslim organizations as well as others) working for same cause, should be brought together under a common banner. All the work should be done under the same banner, even if it is separately implemented by an NGO. One or more organizations should receive the funds but organizations selected should have a separate account for CI. Management of the account will be co-ordinated by the committee chosen by of CI comprising of citizens of national stature as well those based in Ahmedabad and involved with CI. Specific allocation of responsibilities should be assigned to the organizations but implemented under the name of CI.