Gaja Cyclone Work, Observations & Way Forward An Activist Collective Working On Cultural Identities And Diversity GAJA CYCLONE, TAMIL NADU - 2018 !1 About Us Kaani Nilam (Ek Potlee Ret Ki in other states) is an activist collective that is exploring cultural identities, and the need to expand political action & advocacy intervention to preserve these identities. Traveling into some of India’s most remote regions, interacting with various indigenous, traditional, occupational, nomadic and other minority communities, the collective is developing its work and activities depending on issues that the communities identify as immediate and imminent to their lives and livelihoods. The collective works extensively on mobilisation and ideological awareness, with the vision of creating deeper socio-political impact within these communities. Today, our collective has built great relationships, induced strong community participation, stroked robust dialogue and advocacy, apart from starting a one of a kind documentation process of cultural practices, arts, crafts, livelihoods, socio- political structures, and lifestyles. Unlike traditional activism that maintains an abrasive relationship with the system, our collective believes in working in tandem. We understand the benefits of building a working relationship, and wherever possible a nexus with Governments, to ensure gaps are identified and a two pronged remedy is achieved. Ek Potlee Ret Ki currently works with over 31 communities across Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. ! ! ! " GAJA CYCLONE, TAMIL NADU - 2018 !2 Expertise Our collective’s strong suit is its mobilisation capacity. We have worked extensively in the grassroots and take a completely bottom-up approach to access and decision making. Our networks are capable of participating in consultative processes, engaging in result oriented dialogue. • Socio-cultural Mapping • Social Inclusion and Equitable Governance • Skill and Traditional/Alternate Livelihood Identification • Community Strengthening through an Educated Approach to Welfare • Advocacy for Policy Interventions • Integrating Socio-cultural Understanding into Targeted Policy Development and Governance The collective’s predominant presence in Tamil Nadu extends from Ennore to Cuddalore covering Occupational, Dalit, Indigenous, De-Notified and other Minority groups. Disaster Relief & Rehabilitation Work Members of the collective, in various capacities, have contributed to disaster relief and rehabilitation work in various parts of the country. • 2004 - Tsunami • 2007 - 2008 Rajasthan Drought • 2010 - 2011 Rajasthan Drought • 2011 - Cyclone Thane • 2013 - 2014 Rajasthan Drought • 2013 - 2015 Marathwada Drought • 2013 - Uttarakhand Floods • 2015 - Chennai Floods • 2017 - Bihar Floods • 2018 - Kerala Floods • 2018 - Cyclone Gaja During the 2018 Kerala floods, our collective supported the Government of Tamil Nadu in creating Anbudan Tamizhagam - A Disaster Preparedness Coalition to help coordinate civil society relief collection and distribution through Government agencies. Anbudan Tamizhagam also turned into a strong platform for building volunteer resource. GAJA CYCLONE, TAMIL NADU - 2018 !3 Cyclone Gaja On 17 November 2018, the collective reactivated Anbudan Tamizhagam, in hopes to help coordinate relief to affected districts. However, we soon realised the extent of devastation and decided our presence on ground should be prioritised over mere coordination. Soon after, we landed in Nagapattinam and began to study the extent of damage and chalked out a plan for relief and initiation of rehabilitative work. Through consultations with local civil society organisations, community members, and Government officials including the Police, we mapped villages and hamlets inhabited by the most marginalised (hence most affected), that were completely cut off and were not receiving much help. We undertook a journey into these villages to conduct community meetings and enumerate their exact immediate needs. The aim was to initiate targeted relief mobilisation and rehabilitation. Having received tremendous support from affected communities as well as Department of Fisheries, we immediately set up a temporary ‘Centre for Coordination for Relief and Volunteers’ at the Fisheries Department, Office of Joint Director in Nagapattinam. We followed our tried and tested method of creating and activating ‘Citizen Relief and Rehabilitation Committees’ (CRRC), in every village we visited. We enumerated their exact needs and raised targeted relief to cover every family in every village / hamlet. We then handed over the responsibility of collecting the relief from the Centre, safely taking it to their habitations, and equitably distributing them to that hamlet’s CRRC. Our CRRC’s GAJA CYCLONE, TAMIL NADU - 2018 !4 functioned seamlessly and addressed all difficulties such as polarisation, vandalism, infighting, etc., that the larger relief operations faced. These Committees have further become vehicles to monitor rehabilitation and measure impact. We have close to a 100 educated young people from marginalised communities in CRRC’s apart from elders who hold trust within the communities. Habitations we have covered: Pushpavanam, Vedaranyam 1. Sarvodayapuram [SC Hamlet - Agrarian Labour, Backwater Fishing] 2. Puvazhitheru [SC Hamlet - Agrarian Labour] Kodiakadu, Vedaranyam 3. Kodiakadu Main Village [Fishing Labour] 4. Adivasi Hamlet [Indigenous fisherfolk and fishing labour] 5. Indira Colony [SC Hamlet - Fishing Labour] 6. Draupadi Amman Colony [SC Hamlet - Fishing Labour] Kodiakarai, Vedaranyam 7. Kodiakarai Main Village [Fisherfolk boat owners] 8. Kodiakarai Beach [Migrant Fisherfolk] Vanavanmahadevi, Thalainjayaru 9. Vanavanmahadevi Fishing Hamlet [Fisherfolk Boat Owners] 10. Melakkarai Vanavanmahadevi West [SC Hamlet - Agrarian Labour] Avarikadu, Thalainjayaru 11. Keezha Avarikadu [Backwater Fishing] GAJA CYCLONE, TAMIL NADU - 2018 !5 Vandal, Thalainjayaru 12. Vandal [Backwater Fishing and daily wage labour] Kunduranveli, Thalainjayaru 13. Kunduranveli [SC Hamlet - Backwater fishing and labour] Pudupalli, Keelayur 14. MGR Nagar [SC Hamlet - Agrarian Labour] Field Observations Like most other civil society groups and the Government in itself, our collective also noticed a range of gaps in the handling of Cyclone Gaja. Some inevitable and others, indicative of a disconnect. Since most of these are widely discussed already, here are a few we feel need further attention. 1. Lack of socio-cultural understanding about local communities in allocation and distribution of relief 2. Social inclusion - most marginalised are usually the most affected and need focused intervention 3. Creating a working relationship between lower level Government Officials and local civil society groups - the nexus must go beyond civil society and IAS Officers and penetrate to lower rank officials who hold more permanent positions and have on ground knowledge and experience. This will help create long term trust and bring rightful credit. 4. Cyclone Gaja needs a public face. People outside of the affected communities must be made aware of the graveness of the situation through streamlined information broadcasting. Considering traditional media have failed us, it is important to harness social media. A Government driven campaign to put out the right kind of information, will quickly encourage large scale citizen participation. We have seen an example of this during both 2015 Chennai and 2018 Kerala Floods. 5. Education of affected communities as to what are the next steps. Taking them into confidence will help speed up the process of rehabilitation. People are in distress but are very willing to listen and participate. They need a bit of hand holding and a lot more information. GAJA CYCLONE, TAMIL NADU - 2018 !6 What Can Be Done? I. Socio-cultural-geographical mapping (Rehabilitation enumeration) This can be done with the help of the Revenue Department and Police. Accessing land records, details of ration cards, job cards etc., can easily give us an idea of which sort of communities inhabit geographical spaces. This mapping, can at one go give us access to knowledge of community composition, traditional social structures, livelihood practices, economic stratification, etc. This could form a basis for a streamlined needs assessment. Local civil society networks can be helpful in creating this mapping. OUR POSSIBLE CONTRIBUTION a. Draft a document of intent and propose methodology b. Facilitate the coming together of various stakeholders c. Collate the information d. Activate citizen groups to contribute to the mapping II. Alternative livelihoods 1. The first step to social inclusion and targeted support will be identifying immediate alternate livelihood options, especially for marginalised families. MGNREGA will play a huge role in alleviating immediate economic pressure in the forthcoming months. This should be seen as an opportunity to strengthen and streamline the Employment Guarantee provision. 2. Youngsters with ITI training must be immediately given opportunity for placement and gainful employment. This will also become a reiteration of a provision made specifically, targeting youth employment. 3. Expansion and strengthening of tourism. Focus should be placed on intangible cultural heritage, communities that have been traditional dwellers around historic tourism and pilgrimage spots. A range of gainful livelihoods can be tapped into. Kerala and Uttarakhand can become case studies. GAJA CYCLONE, TAMIL