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Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK), Dehra Dun, India
Case study summary report
Published October 14, 2003
By Rahul Nainwal
Centralised forest management models controlled by the state at times alienate the local communities from their traditional territories, lifestyles, cultures and livelihoods. The indigenous nomadic Van Gujjars comprise one such community, facing threat of expulsion from their traditional forest homes in the Shivaliks, subsequent to the government declaring its intentions to reserve the area as a National Park.
RLEK is an NGO working with rural communities in North India (Uttranchal). Their central philosophy is "reaching the unreached and including the excluded". RLEK has been working with the Van Gujjar community and fighting for their rights over the use of forestland. In this backdrop RLEK has equipped the Van Gujjar community with wireless sets for better communication and empowerment.
The wireless communication project
The Van Gujjars and their buffalo's live deep in the forests, away from human habitations and are normally cut off from any roads or telecommunication facilities. Therefore in case of any problem like accidents, poaching or harassment by the forest officials, the Gujjars feel very helpless because they cannot communicate fast enough either within the community or with the RLEK officials. The community has been provided with the wireless sets to address this issue.
In India wireless communication is controlled by the state and using a wireless set without Government permission is illegal. RLEK has been allotted two frequencies. The whole system runs on trust and there is no room for mistake. Gujjars understand the sensitiveness around the use of wireless equipment and ensure that no misuse of the equipment will be done says Anmol Jain, Project Coordinator with RLEK.
Some 80 handsets are provided to the community and around 9 handsets are with the RLEK staff. Since there is no electricity in the forests RLEK staff picks up the batteries from the community for charging. The central station is manned 24 hours of the day. If there is a message to be transmitted to the central station the Gujjars normally convey it to the base station, which then communicates the same message to the central station. Since the messages sent on one transmitter can be heard on all, it improves intra-community information flow and brings in transparency in operations.
A formal committee of Gujjars manages the wireless operations through a democratic process for a group of clusters. Special care is taken to select the person who is not only a good wireless operator, but also trustworthy and approachable by everyone in the community. In every cluster 2 wireless sets are given, one to a male members and another to female members. Men folks are moving all the time and therefore there is a need to train women also because they are left behind in the Deras (Gujjar houses) and in case of any emergency they will need the wireless says Talib Hussein, a wireless operator and a master trainer within the Gujjar community. The wireless sets are valued like life and the community takes care in handling them.
I can easily communicate with others, says Talib Hussein. He explains that the wireless sets are used to check poaching, illegal felling of trees, natural disasters like forest fires and for medical support in case of accidents. Wireless is also used actively to communicate with other members of the community. Whenever there are poachers in the forest or if an animal is in distress we inform RLEK who then informs the forest officials mentions Talib as he explains how people in his community are guarding the forests like their own property.
Talib is a very knowledgeable person and is not representative for the whole community; the other people we talked to had much less exposure to the use of wireless.
Impact and sustainability
The impact of the wireless communication project should be seen mainly in the light of empowerment, but it has also added to the security of the community. With wireless communication the whole community feels secured and empowered and the feeling of helplessness is gone. Apart from helping in case of harassment or accident wireless sets have also done wonders to increase the self worth and confidence level of the Gujjars and empowered them in that sense. Earlier they have only seen the police and the army using such equipment, and now they feel very proud of the fact that the same equipment is available to them as well. "Through the empowerment process initiated through the use of wireless, the communities have started demanding basic services from the government" adds Anmol.
Apart from improved communication, wireless sets have been lifesaving as well, thus adding to the security of the community. It is not really used for any commercial purposes other than relaying messages on the arrival of the milk van. Wireless plays an active part in the Gujjar communitys path towards security and empowerment.
An important sustainability issue is the huge cost involved in setting up the infrastructure and maintaining it. The average recurring cost on one handset per annum comes to around Rs.10.000. Another issue is the fact that the wireless comes with lots of added services. RLEK provides the community with emergency medical facilities, education services, providing marketing interface for milk produce, communication etc. Without these services the wireless is merely a communication tool between the community. Providing these facilities to the citizens comes under the purview of the state. But like in many cases previously the state has failed to provide these services and thats why RLEK has come forward to fill the gap. The consequence is increased dependency of the community on RLEK. Over a period of time RLEK could think of exiting from the role of provider of wireless communication to that of an enabler. The community itself can be trained to manage the whole system on their own with some help from outside. In this way RLEK can help the community to move towards self-sufficiency of the operations and at the same time decrease the dependency of the community on itself.
Read the full report on RLEK
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