Transforming livelihoods through farm ponds

They can be an effective tool for rainwater harvesting

With an increased variability of monsoons and rapidly depleting groundwater tables, large parts of India are reeling under water stress. A number of peninsular regions like Bundelkhand, Vidarbha and Marathwada have been facing recurring drought-like situations. Given the enormity of the crisis, at a recent NITI Aayog meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi explicated the need to implement innovative water management measures, stressing particularly the importance of rainwater harvesting both at the household and community levels. Here, one intervention that has been tried out in various States, and perhaps needs to be taken up on a bigger scale, is the construction of farm ponds.

Farm ponds can be cost-effective structures that transform rural livelihoods. They can help enhance water control, contribute to agriculture intensification and boost farm incomes. However, this is possible only if they act as rainwater harvesting structures and not as intermediate storage points for an increased extraction of groundwater or diversion of canal water. The latter will cause greater groundwater depletion and inequitable water distribution.

In a recent study on farm ponds in Jharkhand and West Bengal, we found that they aided in superior water control through the harvesting not just of rainfall but also of surface run-off and subsurface flows. Some of them functioned exclusively as recharge points, contributing to groundwater replenishment. They also helped in providing supplemental irrigation in the kharif season and an enhanced irrigation coverage in rabi. The yield of paddy, the most important crop in kharif, stabilised, thus contributing to greater food security.

Retention of water

Farm ponds retained water for 8-10 months of the year; thus farmers could enhance cropping intensity and crop diversification within and across seasons. The area used to cultivate vegetables and other commercial crops also increased. Further, figures indicated that the ponds were also a financially viable proposition, with a fairly high Internal Rate of Return, of about 19%, over 15 years.

However, in parts of peninsular India, the idea of a farm pond as an in-siturainwater harvesting structure has taken a complete U-turn. Here, some of them are benefiting farmers at an individual level, but not contributing to water conservation and recharge. They are being used as intermediate storage points, accelerating groundwater depletion and increasing evaporation losses as the groundwater is brought to the surface and stored in relatively shallow structures.

Need for inlet, outlet provisions

In Maharashtra, the State government is promoting farm ponds under a flagship programme that aims to dig over one lakh structures by offering a subsidy of up to ₹50,000 per farmer. However, most of them are being constructed without inlet and outlet provisions and their walls are raised above the ground level by only a few feet. They cannot arrest the excess run-off as there is no inlet, and therefore they cannot be used effectively for rainwater harvesting. Further, farmers line them at the bottom with plastic, restricting seepage and converting the ponds into intermediate storage points.

Such farm ponds have an adverse impact on the water tables and accelerate water loss. The usual practice here is to lift water from a dug well and/or a borewell, store it in the pond and then draw it once again to irrigate the fields, often using micro-irrigation. While offering secure irrigation facility, this intensifies competition for extraction of groundwater from the aquifer, which is a common pool resource.

In such cases, in the command area of the irrigation project, farmers fill up their farm ponds first when the canal is in rotation and then take it from the pond to the field. This can impede circulation of water.

During canal rotation, the aquifer will get recharged because of the return flow of water coming from the irrigated fields. This return flow benefits all, as most of the farmers access water though wells in this command. But if canals fill up the farm ponds first, it restricts their benefits only to the pond owners and, in the long term, reduces the overall return flow at the system level.

Overall, farm ponds can act as effective harvesting structures and also yield healthy financial returns. But if they are promoted merely for on-farm storage of groundwater and canal water, they could accelerate, rather than reduce, the water crisis in the countryside.

Nirmalya Choudhury works with VikasAnvesh Foundation. Sachin Tiwale teaches at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai

Source: The Hindu, 1/08/2019

Triple talaq law: A historic moment for social justice

Criminalisation is a key deterrent against triple talaq. Social reform must follow the legal change

The passing of the law against instant triple talaq is a historic moment. Reform in Muslim personal law has been mired in politics and patriarchy for decades. Gender justice for Muslim women in marriage and family has been of no interest to anyone. But this unfortunate reality began to change in the last 10 to 12 years, with Muslim women raising their voice, and demanding fair play in family matters.

Unlike in 1985, when the lone voice of Shah Bano was crushed by all — government, politicians, clergymen — several Muslim women have publicly demanded an end to instant triple talaq to bring fairness in divorce practices. They have approached the Supreme Court, made appeals to Parliament, and put pressure on the government and the Opposition. All of this, eventually, culminated into public discourse and support for the abolition of instant triple talaq.

Much of the opposition to the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019 has been because it was brought about by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government. But most of the so-called secular political parties failed to see the currents of change within the community. Every woman affected by instant triple talaq is also somebody’s daughter, somebody’s sister, somebody’s mother, and the practice leads to pain and trauma for the whole family.

Besides, there has been a growing awareness about Quranic injunctions on gender justice. Today, Muslims are aware that instant triple talaq is not sanctioned by the Quran. The conservative All India Muslim Personal Law Board could not achieve much success in their attempts to invoke fear of “interference in shariat (Islamic law based on the teachings of Quran and traditions of the Prophet)”. Sadly, the so-called secular parties remained ambiguous, and did not openly support the agitating Muslim women.

This provided a window of opportunity to the BJP beyond their stated commitment to the Uniform Civil Code. It is pointless to go into the motivations of the ruling party, but do note that the Constitution mandates legal protection for women. It speaks volumes for the kind of secularism practised in our country that it took seven decades for a legislation over triple talaq to become reality.

One of the key objections to the new law is that it criminalises instant triple talaq, which is a civil matter. I welcome the law, while stating that the objective is not to punish the man, but to ensure justice and fair play to the victim woman. Nevertheless, a law would be meaningless without deterrence. Triple talaq has been taking place despite the SC judgment banning it. In such circumstances, what is the aggrieved woman supposed to do? She can do little else apart from quoting the judgment to the husband determined to pronounce talaq and throw her out.

However, the law enables reconciliation between the two, by making the offence bailable and compoundable. The fear mongering is unfounded as the First Information Report can be registered only by the wife or family members — all of whom would be fellow Muslims. The demonisation of the woman that she is waiting for the law to send the husband behind bars is ludicrous, and undoubtedly, patriarchal. After all, we are aware of the pathetically low conviction rates in cases dealing with, for example, bigamy, dowry, domestic violence and child sexual assault.

Those opposing the triple talaq law never engaged with the question of justice for Muslim women, but are now suddenly concerned about the harm that the law would bring. Their argument — “Who will provide for her for the three years when the husband is in jail?” — makes me laugh. For heaven’s sake, how did they learn that the husband pronouncing instant unilateral talaq follows up by providing maintenance to the wife he has just divorced? There are hundreds of documented cases of women saying that they did not receive a dime from the husband. Not just that, in several cases, the husband took away even her belongings and the items woman brought with her at the time of marriage.

The opposition to the bill smacks of political motivations, patriarchal mindsets, and utter lack of understanding about the lived realities of Muslim women. Some well-known figures too have joined the opposition – as, in their eyes, the BJP government can do no good ever. In throwing out the baby with the bath water, they are unwittingly contributing in retaining the male-dominated status quo.

It is not my case that the law will drastically and immediately change the lives of Muslim women. Legal reform is an important aspect of a much larger process of social reform. Large sections of Indian Muslim are poor, educationally and economically deprived. They are under threat from communal violence and discrimination. The triple talaq law will have to be followed by awareness, education and empowerment of both women and men. It will support the efforts of those who are engaged within the community working for social justice, empowerment and democracy. 

Zakia Soman is a founding member of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, one of the

petitioners in triple talaq case

Source: Hindustan Times, 1/08/2019

The Divine Mother

 The role of the Divine Mother in Her sattwic aspect — as distinct from the restlessly rajasic and the inertly tamasic aspects of Nature — is to draw all Her children, all self-aware beings everywhere, back to oneness with God. Women, more naturally than men, can manifest this feminine aspect of cosmic nature, if they so choose. Every human being has an obligation, above all to himself, to live by high ideals. In society, people have a duty also to help one another, and to cause injury to no one. None can offer more inspiration to others than he actually feels in himself. Everyone should strive always — even if only for an individual’s own sake — to reach out towards that high potential. If there is a single need greater than any other today, it is for selfless love, rather than self-interested love. Love is more easily and universally comprehensible when we identify it with mother-love. The Divine Mother, then, is a concept that can change the world. The Divine Mother is the source of the mother-instinct. We are Her own. As Paramhansa Yogananda prayed, “Divine Mother, naughty or good, I am Thy child. Thou must release me from this nightmare of delusion!” You can pray like that, with confidence, to the Divine Mother: scoldingly if you like; with pressing urgency if you like; demanding of Her in ways that you might not dare to address the Heavenly Father. We are Her own; She is forever ours. It is easier to establish a relation of mutual trust with the Divine Mother than with God in any other aspect.

Source: Economic Times, 1/08/2019

Sociological Bulletin: Table of Contents

Volume 68 Issue 1, April 2019

Indian Sociology at the Threshold of the 21st Century: Some Observations K. L. Sharma First Published February 13, 2019; pp. 7–24 Abstract Preview

Substantially Present but Invisible, Excluded and Marginalised: A Study of Musahars in Bihar Gaurang R. Sahay First Published March 27, 2019; pp. 25–43 Abstract Preview

Identity and Other: Women and Transgender Sex Workers in Karnataka Skylab Sahu First Published March 27, 2019; pp. 44–59 Abstract Preview

Interrogating the Notion of Self, ‘Mind’ and Personhood in Tangkhul Naga Tradition Yuimirin Kapai First Published February 7, 2019; pp. 60–75 Abstract Preview

Religious Rituals and Environmental Issues: Intergenerational Perceptions on Well-being Sanjoy Sarkar First Published March 27, 2019; pp. 76–93 Abstract Preview

Review Article

Epistemology–Ontology Relations in Social Research: A Review Haribabu Ejnavarzala First Published March 27, 2019; pp. 94–104 Abstract Preview

Book Reviews

Book review: Carl W. Ernst, It’s Not Just Academic! Essays on Sufism and Islamic Studies Aneesa Shafi First Published March 27, 2019; pp. 105–107 Abstract Preview

Book review: Saurabh Dube, Subjects of Modernity Ashok Kaul First Published March 27, 2019; pp. 107–109 Abstract Preview

Book review: Perumal Murugan (Ed.), Black Coffee in a Coconut Shell: Caste as Lived Experience Bibhuti Bhusan Malik First Published March 27, 2019; pp. 109–112 Abstract Preview

Book review: Madhu Nagla, Sociology of Health and Medicine Neena Rosy Kahlon First Published March 27, 2019; pp. 112–114 Abstract Preview

Book review: Debarati Halder and K. Jaishankar, Cyber Crimes Against Women in India Sudarshana Sen First Published March 27, 2019; pp. 114–115 Abstract Preview

Book review: Margaret Khalakdina, Parenting Styles in India Sundara Raj T. First Published March 27, 2019; pp. 115–117 Abstract Preview

Book review: Anup Dhar, Tejaswini Niranjana and K. Sridhar (Eds.), Breaking the Silo Integrated Science Education in India Madhav Govind First Published March 27, 2019; pp. 118–120 Abstract Preview

Book review: Manoranjan Byapari, Interrogating My Chandal Life: An Autobiography of Dalit Balaji Kendre First Published March 27, 2019; pp. 120–122 Abstract Preview

In Assam, basic dignity at stake

There are concerns over how the State government plans to solve the issue of stateless citizens after the NRC exercise

The Supreme Court has extended the day of reckoning for the controversial exercise known as the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam from July 31 to August 31, giving a month’s relief or another opportunity to those who are off the list to scramble and get into it. Thus, it has provided an equal time frame for those who say that many on the list shouldn’t be there because they are not actually ‘foreigners’.

With this extension, the Court rejected demands by both the Central and State governments which, concerned about the nationwide controversy about the drive, had said they wanted to re-verify 10% to 20% of those on the list. In making such a request, the governments were expressing a degree of anxiety about the data quality of a process for which they themselves have pressed strongly since 2014.

The Court’s decision was based on a declaration by the State Coordinator of the NRC, the officer whom it has mandated to run the NRC, that such a review was not necessary: his team had already re-verified 27% of the list. This again has roiled the waters — the local unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) says the officer, Prateek Hajela, had no business to do so. The State unit’s president asserted that the party stood by its demand for a 20% re-verification: “Even if some more time is taken, we want a correct NRC.”

The concern here is that many Hindu Bengalis will be left out of the NRC and hence also get disenfranchised in the process. This has happened numerous times in the ongoing exercise as also with members of traditional tribal groups in the State.

Identifying Indians

The goal of the gargantuan effort of the NRC appears simple: identify Indians living in Assam and by exclusion pick out the ‘foreigners’ or Bangladeshis. In this case, some 40 lakh people were left out of the NRC when the draft list was published last July. This led to an outcry by civil society groups, and media accounts showed how citizens had been left out, reportedly on religious and ethnic grounds, and due to bad data collection. In the past months, not less than 36 lakh or 3.6 million counter claims seeking inclusion were filed.

That is nearly 90% of those who were left out. In the last storm of data-driven efforts, the country’s highest court allowed not less than two lakh complaints against people alleged to be “foreigners” by others whose identity was kept secret. Unknown entities tossed vague charges against people who had lived in India for generations.

The overall effort is to untangle what appears to be nothing short of a Gordian knot — to resolve the issue of illegal immigration from neighbouring Bangladesh into the region over decades. But each stage and layer appear to underline how challenging the problems remain, with issues of legal redress being acute.

The plight of the stateless

Concerns in Assam have been high over the purported influx post-1971 after the creation of Bangladesh. The effort is to calm local anxieties and also cater to a political agenda. Yet the question that is often asked but rarely answered is what happens to those individuals (and their dependents) who are deemed stateless after they find themselves off the list.

I have two questions: What becomes of them while applying to tribunals and courts for relief — all the way to the Supreme Court, a detailed, drawn-out process? How will the government deal with those who are declared non-citizens and if Bangladesh refuses to take them, saying they are not its nationals, as it has consistently held for decades?

In this context, the recent remarks of a senior BJP leader from Assam on the issue are important. For they outline a process which the government believes can help resolve the situation. In a recent television panel discussion, the BJP leader underlined his non-acceptance of the Assam Accord, which has been the madhyam (medium) for the issue of alleged migrants, and which enabled the conferring of citizenship on a distinct group of people after a cooling off period of 10 years.

About 75,000 persons who benefited from this process had migrated from then East Pakistan between 1966 and 1971; most of them were Hindus. The BJP leader said that such a cooling off period was unacceptable, that “there should be” push back” but “push back with dignity”.

But it is significant, however, that what appears to be emerging is that until such expulsion, alleged foreigners must have access to rights that will enable their survival. These would include the right to education and health. But it would exclude the right to vote or to acquire property so that they did not have a role in political processes.

Is this an indication of how the governments, in Assam and the Centre, are thinking of resolving the issue? Could the “suspected” perhaps not be displaced from their locations but deprived of the right to vote and acquisition of property? As has been mentioned earlier, what also needs to be clarified is the status of lands on which they are living or have acquired. Will they be deprived of those? Would this amount to creating an enduring phenomena since Bangladesh refuses to take alleged illegals back?

Many of those who are off the list are poor, cannot afford lawyers and may not even know of their right to legal aid. At stake is the basic dignity of the weak, voiceless and vulnerable. The next few months will see how many of them will receive succour and how many will need to carry their bundles of documents from court to court in an unending and perhaps desperate search for hope.

Sanjoy Hazarika is International Director, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. The views expressed are personal

Source: The Hindu, 30/07/2019

Needed: A trilateral pact on the Brahmaputra river

India, China and Bangladesh should manage the shared resource in the region and depoliticise water security.

ANALYSIS Updated: Jul 29, 2019 19:40 IST

The recent flooding of the Brahmaputra, and China’s sharing of satellite data showing flooded districts in Assam has brought attention to the need for better management of this important river basin by China, India, and Bangladesh. The Brahmaputra is the fifth-largest river in the world by flow. However, unlike the major river systems of the Indus and the Ganga, it currently has no water-sharing treaty, nor is an agreement under negotiation.

A recent book I co-authored with Satu Limaye and Joel Wuthnow examines the challenges faced by the three countries at the domestic, bilateral, and multilateral levels. Underscoring the environmental and humanitarian challenges, the breach of the Brahmaputra’s embankments in mid-July displaced an estimated 5.8 million people in Assam and 400,000 people in northern Bangladesh. At a minimum, better forecasting capabilities and data-sharing are required to reduce the impact of future flooding on downstream populations.

But the geopolitical stakes are also high, not least because the Brahmaputra runs through Arunachal Pradesh, an area disputed by China as “Southern Tibet.” India, China, and Bangladesh have not yet prioritised this issue, but continue to allow tensions in diplomatic relations to compromise water security in this river basin.

For example, China apparently cut off limited data-sharing with India due to the Doklam standoff in 2017. The year before, China announced that it would temporarily divert the Xiabuqu river — a tributary of the Brahmaputra, which is known as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet — due to the construction of a dam. Both moves caused alarm among Indian policymakers and strategists over the potential for China to cause difficulty to downstream countries.

However, India also has a downstream neighbour — Bangladesh — which is concerned about India’s river linking project, and its potential to adversely affect the resources of the Brahmaputra (known as the Jamuna in Bangladesh). More immediately, Dhaka is eager to finalise a water-sharing agreement over the Teesta River — a tributary of the Brahmaputra — with New Delhi. The agreement has been stalled since the failure to conclude it in 2011.

Being downstream of China and India, Bangladesh suffers severe impacts (widespread erosion and flooding), and thus, has the most to gain from a water-sharing agreement. But India and China stand to benefit from an agreement as well. For China, this is an opportunity for it to demonstrate leadership on a serious issue of human security and improve its international reputation, which has been damaged by the country’s assertiveness in East Asian waters.

India for its part would benefit not only from data-sharing with China to mitigate flooding, but also from the exchange of information about hydropower dam construction. As an example of an important river cooperation, China was the first country to provide India with satellite data of flooding in Assam after New Delhi requested this information under the International Charter Space and Major Disasters.

In recognition of the challenges and uncertainties faced by the Brahmaputra stakeholders, the three countries should take action. By the summer of 2020, India, China, and Bangladesh should aim to sign a trilateral memorandum of understanding on the Brahmaputra. This would represent an acknowledgment of the importance of this basin, and the need for all three countries to work together to manage this large body of shared resources.

In the short term, an MoU that launches a dialogue between scientists and policymakers would help depoliticise water security, and provide an opportunity for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Xi Jinping, and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to demonstrate high-profile cooperation to the international community.

An ambitious long-term goal could be the formation of a Brahmaputra Basin Commission. The attainment of this goal will face several obstacles, including China and India agreeing to set aside the dispute over Arunachal Pradesh as it relates to water security, and India bringing on board domestic-level stakeholders. But laying the groundwork for a commission is a necessary first step in addressing the environmental, humanitarian, and geopolitical threats that will only continue to rise in the Brahmaputra River Basin.

Nilanthi Samaranayake is director, strategy and policy analysis, CNA, Washington

The views expressed are personal

Source: Hindustan Times, 29/07/2019