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Making freedom work

Independence Day is a symbolic celebration of the freedom we won on August 15, 1947. But it wouldn’t mean much if our freedom were only symbolic.

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Sixty-three years later, it is but natural that Independence Day should be symbolic. After all, we enjoy the fruits of our successful struggle for independence not just on August 15, but on the days we vote to choose our government, and all the other days as well.
But then, political independence was only one of the objectives of those who fought for it. Freedom fighters and activists strove for independence from gender prejudice, the caste system, poverty, and illiteracy, among many other social ills.

Post-1977, the struggle of independent India, as of every nation that emerged from the shadow of colonial oppression, has been to make political or nominal freedom a substantive one for every citizen.

To make that happen, over the past 63 years, successive governments have adopted a range of laws and policies that have, at least on paper, aimed to make the freedoms promised in the Constitution realisable in our daily lives. The Mag looks at six spheres where independent India has taken positive steps to make its citizens’ freedom more meaningful.

 Women’s rights
‘Voting rights came to women rather easily’
The struggle for women’s rights began much before India got independence — think Jyotirao Phule and his efforts to ensure education for women in the 1800s. In independent India, the movement caught more steam, with the addition of a number of laws to safeguard the interests
of women.

“There have been acts like the one about domestic violence, against dowry deaths, rape, etc. But something like voting rights, which has been truly empowering, surprisingly came to us pretty easily, without being questioned,” says Madhushree Dutta, filmmaker and women’s rights activist.

Another crucial legislation, the Women’s Reservation Bill, currently pending in Parliament, will reserve one-third seats for women in the Parliament and state legislative assemblies. Lalitha Dhara, an active member of YMCA and professor at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar College, believes that although the Women’s Reservation Bill is a welcome move, like other Acts, it is the implementation that might be found lacking.

Dutta believes that real freedom for women will be possible only when they become financially independent. “Most bills are about violence against women, there’s nothing about their economic dependence. It’s like women have to be ‘protected’. They’d rather protect themselves, if economic facilities are made available to them,” she says.

People with disabilities
A late start, but major strides since then
When Javed Abidi, who suffers from a spinal malady, went to the US for studies in the 1980s, he was pleasantly surprised to find that he could access every nook and corner of the campus on his wheel chair. But back home in Delhi, most public places were not disabled-friendly, remembers Abidi. Not that it was surprising. There was no law governing the rights of people with disabilities.

The tide started turning when people with different kinds of disabilities came together in the early 1990s to put pressure on the government to formulate a new law. In 1995, the government finally passed the Disability Act. “In retrospect, we now see that the law lacks teeth. But in itself it was a huge step forward. People with disabilities could demand their rights and go to the court if they were denied,” says Abidi.

In the first five years since the passing of the law, there were only seven cases and three PILs filed, says Abidi. But as information about the law trickled down, the situation improved — by 2005, hundreds of cases were being filed.

Today, apart from the Disability Act, the Rehabilitation Council of India Act and the National Trust Act governs the rights of people with disabilities. But the most important victory after 1995 came in 2007, when India became the seventh nation to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. “We are looking at disability with new eyes. For example, even private industry is being made accountable and forced to stop discrimination (against people with disabilities).”

The results are already being felt. “The election last year was the first one that was made accessible to people with disabilities,” says Shilpi Kapoor, managing director, Barrier Break Technologies, who also campaigns for the rights of disabled people.

“There were ramps for people on wheel-chairs. And there was Braille script on the voting machines,” which means that people with disabilities can on their own go and vote today.  
Going forward, the National Policy on Universal Electronic

Accessibility will push companies to build products and interfaces (for example, websites) that are accessible to the disabled. The Disability Act is also being revamped to bring it up to date with current realities.

Looking back at the struggle, Abidi says, “When I am in an activist frame of mind, I see the glass as half empty since we have had to fight to get even basic rights. But when I am in a positive frame of mind, I do see the glass as half full.”

LGBT community
Gay rights exposes the pseudo-liberals
For the gay community in India, freedom is a concept that has only partly been realised. The striking down of Section 377 by the Delhi high court a year ago — decriminalising same sex intercourse — has definitely buoyed the movement for freedom of the LGBT [Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender] community, but complete independence is a long way off.

“The major difference since the striking down of the law has been that a lot more young people are coming out to their family regarding their sexual orientation, but it isn’t necessarily leading to acceptance,” says Nitin Karani, editor-in-chief of Bombay Dost, a magazine dedicated to the gay community.

Ashok Row Kavi, founder of the magazine, says that the movement for gay rights started in the pre-independence era itself. “The gay rights movement began when Gandhi was still alive,” says Kavi, adding that things started picking up in the 90s. “The most remarkable, among these, was the founding of the Humsafar Trust, the first gay NGO in the country, in 1994. In fact, the NGO had its office in the municipality office, which was run by the Shiv Sena at the time,” says Kavi, who chairs the trust.

In Kavi’s opinion, the LGBT community in India has probably had it much easier than their western counterparts. “Here, parents may be upset when they find out that their child is gay, but they’ll rarely disown him/her. In the West, a lot of parents are known to have thrown their kids out for the same reason.”

He adds, “The problems here are different. Freedom for gays challenges and exposes a lot of people who think they are liberal. It challenges the way we look at women too. It’s just a small prick that bursts society’s balloon.”

Digital empowerment
Connecting people to bring about a transformation

“Digital empowerment goes beyond technology advancement or human development, because it gives you information empowerment,” says Osama Manzar, founder of the Digital Empowerment Foundation.

From the installation of PCOs in the late 1980s to the current roll-out of broadband connection in every Panchayat office, information has empowered Indians in many ways.

“Take railway reservation. Earlier you had to stand in the queue for 1-2 hours before the person told you whether the tickets were available. Things have completely changed because of technology. All information is available online,” says Pradeep Gupta, founder of Cybermedia.

Technology has also enabled public action. “The IT Act made e-governance mandatory. It allows people to monitor the actions the government is taking, says Mazar. The Right to Information Act has in fact been made possible because of technology, adds Gupta. “If you were to ask questions about any department, they would not be able to provide the information unless they have an IT backbone.”

According to Manzar, after the PCO revolution, the rise of the IT industry created a natural demand for infrastructure. This was followed by the meteoric rise in mobile phone connections. Meanwhile, under Bharat Nirman, the government is rolling out broadband services to villages. But one of the most significant steps taken by the government is to allow the operation of community radio, says Manzar.

In urban areas these developments have led to an explosion of blogs and online campaigns. Meanwhile, in rural areas, where illiteracy levels are higher, people are tapping information via voice-based services. “In Bihar, under the Jaankari programme, the RTI process is enabled through integrated voice response systems,” adds Manzar.

Right To Information
It began with an old woman’s demand for accountability

It began in a village in Rajasthan sometime in the early 1990s. Some people were sitting around, talking about corruption in the gram panchayat, when an old woman suggested they go check their accounts. When laughed at, she became defiant and went asking for the accounts with some villagers. They were refused access, but soon it escalated into a big movement, with dharnas being held and social activists joining in.

Finally, the panchayat had to give in to the demands and financial irregularities to the tune of Rs2,000 was uncovered. This, says central information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi, was the beginning of the campaign for right to information [RTI].

“People realised they could ask for information, and it was their right to do so,” says Gandhi, adding that he first heard of RTI only in 2003. “In the last five years, since the RTI Act came into force, it has made a perceptible difference to people in power — they are the only ones who dislike it.” Gandhi credits the likes of activists Aruna Roy and Nikhil De for the birth of RTI.

Education

Enabling the freedom to upward mobility
The seed for the Right to Education Act, which came into force on April 1 this year, was sown in 1993. Back then, two judgments of the Supreme Court effectively stated that education is a fundamental right of citizens, says Madhav Chavan, CEO of Pratham Education Foundation.

“Education makes upward mobility possible, which is crucial in a democracy,” says Chavan. For example, the government’s decision to set up centres of excellence such as IITs allowed people from relatively poor background access to the highest quality of education.

The National Literacy Mission (NLM) of 1988, which was aimed at adult literacy, was moderately successful and short-lived, “but there is evidence which suggests that the NLM has increased the demand for education,” says Chavan.

In recent times, the 2% cess levied by the UPA-1 government has boosted the Union government’s spending on education, which went up from Rs2,000 crore in 2002 to nearly Rs25,000 crore in 2005, says Chavan. As a result, states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have benefited a lot from the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan.

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