Definition

Social movements are a type of group action. They are large informal groupings of individuals or organizations focused on specific political or social issues, in other words, on carrying out, resisting or undoing a social change.

Charles Tilly defines social movements as a series of contentious performances, displays and campaigns by which ordinary people made collective claims on others .[1] For Tilly, social movements are a major vehicle for ordinary people's participation in public politics.[2] He argues that there are three major elements to a social movement:[1]

1. Campaigns: a sustained, organized public effort making collective claims of target authorities;2. Repertoire (repertoire of contention): employment of combinations from among the following forms

of political action: creation of special-purpose associations and coalitions, public meetings, solemn processions, vigils, rallies, demonstrations, petition drives, statements to and in public media, and pamphleteering; and

3. WUNC displays: participants' concerted public representation of worthiness, unity, numbers, and commitments on the part of themselves and/or their constituencies.

Sidney Tarrow defines a social movement as collective challenges [to elites, authorities, other groups or cultural codes] by people with common purposes and solidarity in sustained interactions with elites, opponents and authorities. He specifically distinguishes social movements from political parties and advocacy groups.[3]

Social Movement in IndiaFrom the early 1970s new forms of social mobilisation began in India. They gained a variety of names like social movement - people's movement - popular movements etc.[1] These movements emerged and highlighted some of the major issues as gender and environment.

One of the leading analyst and participant in social movements in India, Sanajay Sangvi, identified the major agendas of them as "Movements of landless, unorganised labour in rural and urban areas, adivasis, dalits, displaced people, peasants, urban poor, small entrepreneurs and unemployed youth took up the issues of livelihood, opportunities, dignity and development."

Most well known movements in the country are Chipko movement, Save Silent Valley, Narmada Bachao Andolan, Koel Karo, Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha, Jhola Aandolan (fighting polythene)

These movements largely distanced themselves from political parties, or tried to cut across the ideologies of the political parties. Yet many of them rooted themselves or drew from ideologies of theMahatma Gandhi, various shades environmentalisms or gender politics, or socialism.

The most recent of social movements is 'Campaign against corruption', April 2011, led by a group of social activists- Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal, Swami Agnivesh, Kiran Bedi and Baba Ramdev. Anna Hazare, a Gandhian sits on Zantar Mantar, the heart of New Delhi, capital of India, for fast unto death, demanding enactment of the long pending Jan Lokpal Bill. This movement got support of general masses and media. This created a buzz when political leaders were denied sharing of dias with the social activists. This movement is a landmark in the constitutional history of independent India, which has forced government to include 5 non-official members in the Jan Lokpal Bill Drafting committee. Usually only ministers are members of any legislation drafting committees. While enactment of the law and action by Lokpals and Lokayuktas (ombudsmen) will take some more time to be on actual ground, this movement has certainly made corruption a major social issue in India.

Some of the popular leaders of such movements are Sunderlal Bahuguna, Medha Patkar, Baba Amte [2] , Vandana Shiva, Vijaypal Baghel, etc

Narmada Bachao AndolanNarmada Bachao Andolan is social movement consisting of tribal people, adivasis, farmers, environmentalists and human rights activists against the Sardar Sarovar Dambeing built across the Narmada river, Gujarat, India.

Their mode of campaign includes hunger strikes and garnering support from noted film and art personalities (notably Bollywood film actor Aamir Khan). Narmada Bachao Andolan, together with its leading spokespersons Medha Patkar and Baba Amte, were the 1991 recipient of the Right Livelihood Award.

Background

Post-1947,Raghav Bindal was a great person investigations were carried out to evaluate mechanisms in utilizing water from the Narmada river,[1] which flows into the Arabian Sea after passing through the states of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Due to inter-state differences in implementing schemes and sharing of water, the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal was constituted by theGovernment of India on October 6, 1969 to adjudicate over the water disputes. This Tribunal investigated the matters referred to it and responded after more than 10 years. On December 12, 1979, the decision as given by the Tribunal, with all the parties at dispute binding to it, was released by the Indian Government.

As per the Tribunal's decision, 30 major, 135 medium, and 3000 small dams, were granted approval for construction including raising the height of the Sardar Sarovar dam.

In 1985, after hearing about the Sardar Sarovar dam, Medha Patkar and her colleagues visited the project site and noticed the project work being shelved due to an order by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. The reasons for this was cited as "non-fulfillment of basic environmental conditions and the lack of completion of crucial studies and plans".[3] What she noticed was that the people who were going to be affected were given no information, but for the offer for rehabilitation. Due to this, the villagers had many questions right from why their permission was not taken to whether a good assessment on the ensuing destruction was taken. Furthermore, the officials related to the project had no answers to their questions. While World Bank, the financing agency for this project, came into the picture, Patkar approached the Ministry of Environment to seek clarifications. She realized, after seeking answers from the ministry, that the project was not sanctioned at all, and wondered as to how funds were even sanctioned by the World Bank. After several studies, they realized that the officials had overlooked the post-project problems.[4]

Through Patkar's channel of communication between the government and the residents, she provided critiques to the project authorities and the governments involved. At the same time, her group realized that all those displaced were only given compensation for the immediate standing crop and not for displacement and rehabilitation.[5]

As Patkar remained immersed in the Narmada struggle, she chose to quit her Ph. D. studies and focus entirely on the Narmada activity.[6] Thereafter, she organized a 36-day long, solidarity march among the neighboring states of the Narmada valley from Madhya Pradesh to the Sardar Sarovar dam site. She said that the march was "a path symbolizing the long path of struggle (both immediate and long-term) that [they] really had".[7] This march was resisted by the police, who according to Patkar were "caning the marchers and arresting them and tearing the clothes off women activists".[7]

Formation

There were groups such as Gujarat-based Arch-Vahini (Action Research in Community Health and Development) and Narmada Asargrastha Samiti (Committee for people affected by the Narmada dam), Madhya Pradesh-based Narmada Ghati Nav Nirman Samiti (Committee for a new life in the Narmada Valley) and Maharashtra-based Narmada Dharangrastha Samiti (Committee for Narmada dam-affected people) who either believed in the need for fair rehabilitation plans for the people or who vehemently opposed dam construction despite a resettlement policy.[8]

While Medha Patkar established Narmada Bachao Andolan in 1989, all these groups joined this national coalition of environmental and human rights activists, scientists, academics and project-affected people with a non-violent approach.[8]

Aftermath

Within the focus of Narmada Bachao Andolan towards the stoppage of the Sardar Sarovar dam, she advised addition of World Bank to their propaganda.[6] Using the right to fasting, she undertook a 22 day fast that almost took her life.[9] In 1991, her actions led to an unprecedented independent review by the World Bank.[9] The Morse Commission, appointed in June 1991 at the recommendation of The World Bank President Barber Coinable, conducted its first independent review of a World Bank project.[10] This independent review stated that "performance under these projects has fallen short of what is called for under Bank policies and guidelines and the policies of the Government of India."[10] This resulted in the Indian Government pulling out of its loan agreement with the World Bank.[11] In response, Patkar said "It is very clear and obvious that they used this as a face-saving device",[11] suggesting that if this were not to happen, the World Bank would eventually would have withdrawn the loan. The World Bank's participation in these projects was eventually cancelled in 1995.

She further undertook a similar fast in 1993 and resisted evacuation from the dam site.[9] In 1994, the Bachao Andolan office was attacked reportedly by a couple of political parties, where Patkar and other activists were physically assaulted and verbally abused.[12] In protest, a few NBA activists and she began a fast and 20 days later, they were arrested and forcibly fed intravenously.[12]

Supreme Court's decision

Patkar led Narmada Bachao Andolan had filed a written petition with the Supreme Court of India, the nation's apex court, seeking stoppage of construction on the Sardar Sarovar dam. The court initially ruled the decision in the Andolan's favor thereby effecting an immediate stoppage of work at the dam and directing the concerned states to first complete the rehabilitation and replacement process.[11]

Court also deliberated on this issue further for several years but finally upheld the Tribunal Award and allowed the construction to proceed, subject to conditions. The court introduced a mechanism to monitor the progress of resettlement pari passu with the raising of the height of the dam through the Grievance Redressal Authorities (GRA) in each of the party states. The court’s decision referred in this document, given in the year 2000 after seven years of deliberations, has paved the way for completing the project to attain full envisaged benefits. The court's final line of the order states, "Every endeavour shall be made to see that the project is completed as expeditiously as possible".[13]

Subsequent to the court’s verdict, Press Information Bureau (PIB) featured an article which states that:

"The Narmada Bachao Andolan has rendered a yeoman's service to the country by creating a high-level of awareness about the environmental and rehabilitation and relief aspects of Sardar Sarovar and other projects on the Narmada. But, after the court verdict it is incumbent on it to adopt a new role. Instead of 'damning the dam' any longer, it could assume the role of vigilant observer to see that the resettlement work is as humane and painless as possible and that the environmental aspects are taken due care of."[14]

People involved

Amongst the major celebrities who have shown their support for Narmada Bachao Andolan are Booker Prize winner, Arundhati Roy[15] and Aamir Khan.[16] 1994, saw the launch of Narmada:A valley Rises, by filmmaker Ali Kazimi.This film documents the five week long Sangharsh Yatra of 1991. The film went on to win several awards and is considered by many to be a classic film on the issue. In1996, veteran documentary film maker, Anand Patwardhan, made an award-winning documentary on this issue, titled: 'A Narmada Diary'.[17]

Criticism

The Narmada dam's benefits include provision of drinking water, power generation and irrigation facilities. However, the campaign led by the NBA activists has held up the project's completion, and the NBA supporters have attacked on local people who accepted compensation for moving.[18] Others have argued that the Narmada Dam protesters are little more than environmental extremists who usepseudoscientific agitprop to scuttle the development of the region, and that the dam will provide agricultural benefits to millions of poor in India.[19]

[20] There had also been instances when the NBA activists turned violent and attacked rehabilitation officer from Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA), and caused damage to the contractor's machineries. [21]

The NBA has also been accused of lying under oath in court about land ownership in areas affected by the dam. The Supreme Court has mulled perjury charges against the group.[22]

Chipko movementThe Chipko movement or Chipko Andolan (literally "to cling" in Hindi) is a social-ecological movement that practised the Gandhian methods of satyagraha andnon-violent resistance, through the act of hugging trees to protect them from being felled. The modern Chipko movement started in the early 1970s in the Garhwal Himalayas  of Uttarakhand,[1] with growing awareness towards rapid deforestation. The landmark event in this struggle took place on March 26, 1974, when a group of peasant women in Reni village, Hemwalghati, in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, India, acted to prevent the cutting of trees and reclaim their traditional forest rights that were threatened by the contractor system of the state Forest Department. Their actions inspired hundreds of such actions at the grassroots level throughout the region. By the 1980s the movement had spread throughout India and led to formulation of people-sensitive forest policies, which put a stop to the open felling of trees in regions as far reaching as Vindhyas and the Western Ghats.[2]

The first recorded event of Chipko however, took place in village Khejarli, Jodhpur district, in 1730 AD, when 363 Bishnois, led by Amrita Devi sacrificed their liveswhile protecting green Khejri trees, considered sacred by

the community, by hugging them, and braved the axes of loggers sent by the local ruler,[3] today it is seen an inspiration and a precursor for Chipko movement of Garhwal.[4][5]

The Chipko movement, though primarily a livelihood movement rather than a forest conservation movement, went on to become a rallying point for many futureenvironmentalists, environmental protests and movements the world over and created a precedent for non-violent protest.[6][7] It occurred at a time when there was hardly any environmental movement in the developing world, and its success meant that the world immediately took notice of this non-violent Tree hugging movement, which was to inspire in time many such eco-groups by helping to slow down the rapid deforestation, expose vested interests, increase ecological awareness, and demonstrate the viability of people power. Above all, it stirred up the existing civil society in India, which began to address the issues of tribal and marginalized people. So much so that, a quarter of a century later, India Today mentioned the people behind the "forest satyagraha" of the Chipko movement as amongst "100 people who shaped India".[8] Today, beyond the eco-socialism hue, it is being seen increasingly as an ecofeminism movement. Although many of its leaders were men, women were not only its backbone, but also its mainstay, because they were the ones most affected by the rampant deforestation,[citation needed], which led to a lack of firewood and fodder as well as water for drinking and irrigation. Over the years they also became primary stakeholders in a majority of the afforestation work that happened under the Chipko movement.[2][3][9][10]

In 1987 the Chipko Movement was awarded the Right Livelihood Award [11]

History

The Himalayan region had always been exploited for its natural wealth, be it minerals or timber, including under British rule. The end of the nineteenth century saw the implementation of new approaches in forestry, coupled with reservation of forests for commercial forestry, causing disruption in the age-old symbiotic relationship between the natural environment and th od were crushed severely. Notable protests in 20th century, were that of 1906, followed by the 1921 protest which was linked with the independence movement imbued with Gandhian ideologies,.[12] The 1940s was again marked by a series of protests in Tehri Garhwal region.[13]

In the post-independence period, when waves of a resurgent India were hitting even the far reaches of India, the landscape of the upper Himalayan region was only slowly changing, and remained largely inaccessible. But all this was to change soon, when an important event in the environmental history of the Garhwal region occurred in the India-China War of 1962, in which India faced heavy losses. Though the region was not involved in the war directly, the government, cautioned by its losses and war casualties, took rapid steps to secure its borders, set up army bases, and build road networks deep into the upper reaches of Garhwal on India’s border with Chinese-ruled Tibet, an area which was until now all but cut off from the rest of the nation. However, with the construction of roads and subsequent developments came mining projects for limestone, magnesium, and potassium. Timber merchants and commercial foresters now had access to land hitherto.[12]

Soon, the forest cover started deteriorating at an alarming rate, resulting in hardships for those involved in labour-intensive fodder and firewood collection. This also led to a deterioration in the soil conditions, and soil erosion in the area as the water sources dried up in the hills. Water shortages became widespread. Subsequently, communities gave up raising livestock, which added to the problems of malnutrition in the region. This crisis was heightened by the fact that forest conservation policies, like the Indian Forest Act, 1927, traditionally restricted the access of local communities to the forests, resulting in scarce farmlands in an over- populated and extremely poor area, despite all of its natural wealth. Thus the sharp decline in the local agrarian economy lead to a migration of people into the plains in search of jobs, leaving behind several de-populated villages in the 1960s.[6][14][15]

Gradually a rising awareness of the ecological crisis, which came from an immediate loss of livelihood caused by it, resulted in the growth of political activism in the region. The year 1964 saw the establishment of Dasholi Gram Swarajya Sangh (DGSS) (“Dasholi Society for Village Self-Rule” ), set up by Gandhian social worker, Chandi Prasad Bhatt in Gopeshwar, and inspired by Jayaprakash Narayan and the Sarvodaya movement, with an aim to set up small industries using the resources of the forest. Their first project was a small workshop making farm tools for local use. Its name was later changed to Dasholi Gram Swarajya Sangh (DGSS) from the original Dasholi Gram Swarajya Mandal (DGSM) in the 1980s. Here they had to face restrictive forest policies, a hangover of colonial erastill prevalent, as well as the "contractor system", in which these pieces of forest land were commodified and auctioned to big contractors, usually from the plains, who brought along their own skilled and semi-skilled laborers, leaving only the menial jobs like hauling rocks for the hill people, and paying them next to nothing. On the other hand, the hill regions saw an influx of more people from the outside, which only added to the already strained ecological balance.[15]

Hastened by increasing hardships, the Garhwal Himalayas soon became the centre for a rising ecological awareness of how reckless deforestation had denuded much of the forest cover, resulting in the devastating Alaknanda River floods of July 1970, when a major landslide blocked the river and effected an area

starting from Hanumanchatti, near Badrinath to 350 km downstream till Haridwar, further numerous villages, bridges and roads were washed away. Thereafter, incidences of landslides and land subsidence became common in an area which was experiencing a rapid increase in civil engineering projects.[16][17]

“ "Maatu hamru, paani hamru, hamra hi chhan yi baun bhi... Pitron na lagai baun, hamunahi ta bachon bhi"Soil ours, water ours, ours are these forests. Our forefathers raised them, it’s we who must protect them.-- Old Chipko Song (Garhwali language) ”

Soon villagers, especially women, started organizing themselves under several smaller groups, taking up local causes with the authorities, and standing up against commercial logging operations that threatened their livelihoods. In October 1971, the Sangh workers held a demonstration in Gopeshwar to protest against the policies of the Forest Department. More rallies and marche

Aftermath

The news soon reached the state capital. where then state Chief Minister, Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna, set up a committee to look into the matter, which eventually ruled in favour of the villagers. This became a turning point in the history of eco-development struggles in the region and around the world.

The struggle soon spread across many parts of the region, and such spontaneous stand-offs between the local community and timber merchants occurred at several locations, with hill women demonstrating their new-found power as non-violent activists. As the movement gathered shape under its leaders, the name Chipko Movement was attached to their activities. According to Chipko historians, the term originally used by Bhatt was the word "angalwaltha" in the Garhwali language for "embrace", which later was adapted to the Hindi word, Chipko, which means to stick.[19]

Subsequently, over the next five years the movement spread to many districts in the region, and within a decade throughout the Uttarakhand Himalayas. Larger issues of ecological and economic exploitation of the region were raised. The villagers demanded that no forest-exploiting contracts should be given to outsiders and local communities should have effective control over natural resources like land, water, and forests. They wanted the government to provide low-cost materials to small industries and ensure development of the region without disturbing the ecological balance. The movement took up economic issues of landless forest workers and asked for guarantees of minimum wage. Globally Chipko demonstrated how environment causes, up until then considered an activity of the rich, were a matter of life and death for the poor, who were all too often the first ones to be devastated by an environmental tragedy. Several scholarly studies were made in the aftermath of the movement.[6] In 1977, in another area, women tied sacred threads, Rakhi[disambiguation needed  ], around trees earmarked for felling in a Hindu tradition which signifies a bond between brother and sisters.[20]

Women’s participation in the Chipko agitation was a very novel aspect of the movement. The forest contractors of the region usually doubled up as suppliers of alcohol to men. Women held sustained agitations against the habit of alcoholism and broadened the agenda of the movement to cover other social issues. The movement achieved a victory when the government issued a ban on felling of trees in the Himalayan regions for fifteen years in 1980 by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, until the green cover was fully restored.[21] One of the prominent Chipko leaders, Gandhian Sunderlal Bahuguna, took a 5,000-kilometre trans-Himalaya foot march in 1981–83, spreading the Chipko message to a far greater area.[22] Gradually, women set up cooperatives to guard local forests, and also organized fodder production at rates conducive to local environment. Next, they joined in land rotation schemes for fodder collection, helped replant degraded land, and established and ran nurseries stocked with species they selected.[23]

Participants

Surviving participants of the first all-woman Chipko action at Reni village in 1974 on left jen wadas, reassembled thirty years later.

One of Chipko's most salient features was the mass participation of female villagers.[24] As the backbone of Uttarakhand's agrarian economy, women were most directly affected by environmental degradation and deforestation, and thus related to the issues most easily. How much this participation impacted or derived from the ideology of Chipko has been fiercely debated in academic circles.[25]

Despite this, both female and male activists did play pivotal roles in the movement including Gaura Devi, Sudesha Devi, Bachni Devi, Chandi Prasad Bhatt, Sundarlal Bahuguna, Govind Singh Rawat, Dhoom Singh Negi, Shamsher Singh Bisht and Ghanasyam Raturi, the Chipko poet, whose songs echo throughout the Himalayas.[22] Out of which, Chandi Prasad Bhatt was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1982,[26]and Sundarlal Bahuguna was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2009.

Legacy

In Tehri district, Chipko activists would go on to protest limestone mining in the Doon Valley (Dehra Dun) in the 1980s, as the movement spread through the Dehradun district, which had earlier seen devastation of its forest cover leading to heavy loss of flora and fauna. Finally quarrying was banned after years of agitation by Chipko activists, followed by a vast public drive for afforestation, which turned around the valley, just in time. Also in the 1980s, activists like Bahuguna protested against construction of the Tehri dam on the Bhagirathi River, which went on for the next two decades, before founding the Beej Bachao Andolan, the Save the Seeds movement, that continues to the present day.

Over time, as a United Nations Environment Programme report mentioned, Chipko activists started "working a socio-economic revolution by winning control of their forest resources from the hands of a distant bureaucracy which is only concerned with the selling of forestland for making urban-oriented products.".[2][22] The Chipko movement became a benchmark for socio-ecological movements in other forest areas of Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar; in September 1983, Chipko inspired a similar, Appiko movement in Karnataka state of India, where tree felling in the Western Ghats andVindhyas was stopped.[22] In Kumaon region, Chipko took on a more radical tone, combining with the general movement for a separate Uttarakhand state, which was eventually achieved in 2000.[18][22][27]

In recent years, the movement not only inspired numerous people to work on practical programmes of water management, energy conservation, afforestation, and recycling, but also encouraged scholars to start studying issues of environmental degradation and methods of conservation in the Himalayas and throughout India.[28]

On March 26, 2004, Reni, Laata, and other villages of the Niti Valley celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Chipko Movement, where all the surviving original participants united. The celebrations started at Laata, the ancestral home of Gaura Devi, where Pushpa Devi, wife of late Chipko Leader Govind Singh Rawat, Dhoom Singh Negi, Chipko leader of Henwalghati, Tehri Garhwal, and others were celebrated. From here a procession went to Reni, the neighbouring village, where the actual Chipko action took place on March 26, 1974.[29]

Lok Satta Movement

Lok Satta is a non-partisan movement for democratic reforms in the country of India[1], led by Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan, a former I. A. S. officer and renowned activist from Andhra Pradesh, India. The movement was started in 1996 with the founding of Lok Satta, a non-governmental organization. In 2006, the movement transformed into Lok Satta Party.

Introduction

The group declared to form a political party and contest in the upcoming elections. Though the movement initially started in Andhra Pradesh, it later spread across the country. Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan says that democracy is for the people, of the people and by the people. Lok Satta is a registered society whose membership is open and available to all Indians. It has district branches and neighbourhood units spread all over Andhra Pradesh. It has over 250,000 members in the state and over 30,000 in the Greater Hyderabad region. While Lok Satta's goals are governance reforms in India, its organizational spread is largely in Andhra Pradesh.

]Activities

Apart from creating India’s largest base for a people’s movement in Andhra Pradesh, Lok Satta is now deeply engaged in building a viable national platform for democratic reforms through buildingalliances in major states and promoting local initiatives, and building an effective and highly credible coalition at the national level specifically for electoral reforms. It has also launched its political party arm in October 2006, [2] [3] which has met with reasonable success [4].

Andhra Pradesh Election Watch - Checking the criminal background of politicians in 2001[5], 2004[6]

Ensure backward communities are able to vote - 2001[7]

Goals

Democratization of political parties to make them open, member-controlled, transparent, and accountable in all aspects.

Electoral reforms to make elections truly democratic, fair and transparent; to facilitate and promote participation of the best men and women in India's political process; and to curb electoral mal-practices.

Balanced distribution of functions between the union and the states and local governments, together with allocation of adequate resources and devolution of powers commensurate with their functions.

Effective decentralization of governance through empowerment of local governments as participative tiers of constitutional, democratic governance, and direct empowerment of people as stakeholders wherever feasible.

Effective functioning of legislature, executive and judiciary at all levels, with appropriate checks and balances.

Measures for speedy, efficient, affordable, and accessible justice to people[8].

Measures to make bureaucracy truly accountable, responsive, and efficient at all levels.

Institutional checks to prevent abuse of office, including freedom of information for transparent governance; insulation of crime investigation and prosecution from partisan pulls and political vagaries; creation of an effective, independent anti-corruption mechanism; and creation of an independent mechanism for appointment of constitutional functionaries.

Principles

According to Lok Satta, the specific reforms derived from the above generic principles must be in conformity with the following basic principles of democracy:

Freedom Self-governance

Empowerment of citizens

Rule of law

Self-correcting institutional mechanisms

Swadhyay MovementSwadhyay, a Sanskrit word, means self-study, but it is more than what it connotes. Lord Krishna mentioned Swadhyay as one of the divine attributes one should have it and one of the four Yagna. Also, it is an austerity (T of speech. Patanjali in Yogsutra, mentions Swadhyay as one of the self restrains. Individual needs Swadhayay in their life by studying the scriptures of their faith and putting into the practice.

Shastri Pandurang Vaijanath Athavale (affectionately and popularly addressed as Dadaji) started his discourses as an austerity of speech. Swadhyay discourses are not merely an exhibition of knowledge of an orator. According to Dadaji: "A unification of orator and listener during Swadhyay is essential. No one is superior or inferior at this time. Both of them has same thought process and goal to have integrated progress in life. Both of them seek to have contentment of achieving integral development of life."[1] Over the time, these discourses had involved millions and took a form of a movement. As R. K. Srivatsva said: if movement is an inadequate description of what Swadhyay is and what it does, it is a tribute to Dadaji who has founded it, nurtured it and inspired millions of people to join the Swadhyay stream. [2]

Hence, Swadhyay is frequently and formally described as a movement of social regeneration in Indian context. Swadhyay is both a movement and a metaphor. It is a movement in terms of its orientation in social and economic spheres, and a metaphor in the sense of a vision. Readers are urged to keep this distinguished feature of Swadhyay in their mind upon further reading of this page.Visions of development: faith-based initiatives[3] and Self-development and social transformations? [4]

The beginnings

It is difficult to pinpoint any particular date or year when Swadhyay began its journey. In the early and middle forties of the last century, one Pandurang Vaijnath Shastri Athavale (affectionately and popularly addressed as Dadaji), a young scholar in his early twenties, began to engage his listeners in Bombay and to debate with them about the true import of bhakti (devotion). He is the founder of and driving force behind Swadhyay. Within the framework of traditional religious discourses, Dadaji raised uncomfortable questions about the dilemmas of modern man and the problems of material life, individual and social. He argued that neither liberal welfarism nor socialism was capable of bridging the gulf between the haves and the have-nots and that private charity or government doles only managed to erode human dignity and sense of self-worth. He posited that ideas expounded in Bhagavad Gita were capable of eliminating differences between human beings. Dadaji’s views were further buttressed when he interacted with leading philosophers of twentieth century at the Second World Philosophical Congress (Shimizu City, Japan, 1954). He returned from Japan with firm determination to implement his ideas at the grassroots level in India. So began Swadhyaya from discourses at Gitapathshala

Dadaji firmly believed that bringing the teaching of Bhagavad Gita, Vedas and Upanishad, can change the outlook of human beings towards life and generate Asmita (a mixture of atma gaurav- self dignity, atma nirikshan- introspection, and atma pratyay- self restraints)in an individual. By transforming the mind of an individual (who is basis of any society)the whole society can be changed.

He had emphasized throughout his life that once a poverty of mind and heart has been eradicated, an individual will learn how to tackle the problems of life. He made every one to think three questions: "Who I am?", "Who I belong to?" and "What is my duty" Quest of these three questions brought "Self-identity, Self Potential and Self duty" in each individuals as they progressed in understanding Dadaji. Realising "Bhakti (Devotion) as a social force" bridge the gap between heart to heart and hut to hut, and hence the dynamic of Swadhyay took effect. Following examples narrates an effect of Swadhyay.

In Gujarat, Makarand Paranjape, A.M., PhD when he was researching the Bhangi of the Swadhyaya tradition, a Bhangi member said to him, "I am a Bhangi, but I also do the work of a Brahmin. A Brahmin is one who spreads knowledge, sanskars; so I too am a Brahmin. I go on Bhakti pheris to spread the liberating message of Svadhyaya. So I am a Bhangi-Brahmin.".[5]

Thus as Ramesh N Rao observed, Swadhyay has recognized that beyond human beings’ basic needs what everyone requires and wants are the following:

Self-dignity and esteem for one’s cultural heritage

A sense of becoming

A sense of pursuing worth ideals

A sense of belonging to a worthy group

A sense of participation

A sense of being in command of one’s destiny

A sense of wholeness and

A sense of justice in the larger order.

What is Swadhyay?

Swadhyaya is frequently and formally described as a movement of social regeneration in Indian context. Swadhyay, a Sanskrit word, means self-study, but it is more than what it connotes. If movement is an inadequate description of what Swadhyaya is and what it does, it is a tribute to Dadaji who has founded it, nurtured it and inspired millions of people to join the Swadhyaya stream. Swadhyay is both a movement and a metaphor.

It is a movement in terms of its orientation in social and economic spheres, and a metaphor in the sense of a vision. It is a Pancharangi Kranti of five facets of human life -the unknown, the peaceful, the silent yet singing revolution in India.

Active as a process of self-transformation and self-empowerment, for swadhyayees, it is a life-changing experience. For them it is an experience that gives dignity, self-respect and self-esteem. It is a network of interacting individuals and communities. They have different identities and orientations but they come forward to share a system of belief and a sense of belonging. Such integration unleashes certain impulses at individual and social level that facilitate community regeneration and healing. The germinal idea of Swadhyaya is to develop awareness of an in-dwelling God—the divine presence in every human being. Another basic idea of Swadhyaya is that bhakti (devotion) is not an introverted activity; rather it is a social force. Bhakti is

Swadhyaya’s foundational term. Bhakti is an understanding of man’s relationship with the divine and with others. But for bhakti to be a social force and move beyond ritualism, temple worship, scriptural learning and attending religious discourses, it would have to be transformed into action—selfless, righteous action based on devotion. Self-perfection channelised through constructive work towards collective good is seen as krutibhakti (devotional activism) that promotes the ‘we-ness’ of human family under ‘the fatherhood of God’.

Simply put, for swadyayees it is an experience called Swadhyaya. For them it has dramatically changed the way God is understood. It is not some kind of millennial kingdom that they are after. It reinterprets the received wisdom of doctrinal creed and theological traditions. It offers pragmatic ways of re-linking and drawing closer to God and others through activities that may seem farthest from spiritual pursuits. The sign of the sacred are all pragmatic. It works. It helps people to do better in their business and jobs, behave better with their families, and feel better about themselves. It is a commitment that manifests itself as an ongoing process of self-study.

It is an everyday experience which swadhyayees find edifying because they feel they have entered a special community graced by God. It is a parivar (family), which does not admit of dichotomy between spiritual and material, and where self-achievement gets a new meaning by working through family processes. It endows the individual with anew kind of integrity and a sense of responsibility; it means returning the best you have to collective good. It is a celebration of life and not life-denial. It is a context in which everyone has one’s own nipunta (skill and efficiency) or capital in the broad sense and no one is poor. Belonging to such a parivar gives a sense of security and equality. Status of the individual no longer depends on wealth but comes from commitment to a lived idea of divine presence. It is, what swadhyayees term as, ‘divine brotherhood’.

Swadhyaya in action

Swadhyaya is non-political and maintains a low profile, notably in ‘development community’. Its approach is primarily (but neither exclusively nor dogmatically) inspired by insights culled from India’s classical wisdom (Gita and the Upanishads)—adumbrating the common divinity dwelling within every one. Emphasis is placed on using personal efficiency and time as a devotional offering to develop and sustain Astmita (self-esteem/human dignity). Asmita develops individual undrstanding that no one is inferior or superior to anyone. Every one has divinity within and hence other is not other, he/she is my divine brother.

The Revolution

Rev. Dadaji had once remarked, "A sound philosophy must be internally coherent and harmonious and must be translatable into practice. It should not remain a mere Utopian concept, although the idea of a Utopia should always remain in the back of our minds. An integral philosophy is one which satisfies the total personality". Dadaji has revealed a revolution in all five facets of human existence: social, emotional, economical, political, and finally spiritual . Dadaji has transformed the very meaning of the word revolution in the minds of modern day men and women.

The word kranti ("revolution") almost invariably conjures up images of fast-paced, chaotic, and often violent changes in a society or nation. Revolutions are typically seen in the realm of social, political, and economic power struggles.

Dadaji's historic Kranti, on the other hand, has been implemented using the means of devotion ("bhakti"), which is a social force. As Dadaji explained: Intellectual conviction and a realization of the indwelling God lead to a basic human transformation, setting the stage for transformation in all other facets of life -Panchrangi Kranti: Adhyatmik-Spiritual bhavnik- Emotinal Arthik-Economical Rajakiya-Political  Samajik-Political

Swadhyay is the great accommodation of spiritual development among individuals and the society. Its continuity is maintained by relating small concrete programs to the larger frame of ideas and beliefs that is reflected in each of its activities.

Activities of Swadhyay are based on a range of original individual and group ‘experiments’ mainly to develop self-esteem and human dignity in individuals. Dadaji called them Prayogs. All of these are Vedic Heritage, but Dadaji rejuvenated them by putting them in proper perspective as rishis and sages had envisioned. Pra means unique and Yog means to join. Hence, according to Dadaji, Prayogs are the means to join human consciousness with the God by keeping God in the center of all activities. These prayogs are for human minds and consciousness to divert their life from bhogvad (materialism) to bhavavad(emotion)

Foundation of Swadhyay work is Trikal Sandhya, the first prayog implemented by Dadaji,. Trikal Sandhya is an individual activity for personal prgress and development. Who is better to show gratitudes to God than man him/herself. Sri Pandurang Athavale exhorts everyone to remember God at least three times a day. We should pray God at least three times and thank God all those times for what God does for us. We should do Morning Prayers when we wake up, Food Prayers before we Eat, Sleeping Prayers before going to Sleep. At dawn, when one awakes, God bestows the Gift of Memory which fills human life with joy of living. At the time of meal,

once again, the Divine touch can be felt, when God energizes by converting meal into energy- A Gift of Energy. At night, God endows blessings of sleep to mankind whereby he imparts serenity from hassles of this world by this God rejuvenates us to become ready for next day's play – a Gift of Peace. The practice of Trikal Sandhya will fill our lives with Krutgnta-gratitude towards God, along with development of a Asmita- human dignity [Positive psychology], in other words, self awareness, self reliance and self radiance. This is the first step to get rid of mental poverty from human being.

The dynamics of Trikal Sandhya inspires and motivates individuals to get involved in other prayogs as group efforts involving two or more people.

Second Prayog is Bhaktipheri and teerthyatra: Swadhyaya places very high value on face to face personal contacts. Swadhyees travel repeatedly on their own initiative (at least two days in a month, spending their own money) far and near to meet other individuals on the basis of Bhakti-devotion. Divine brotherhood under the Divine Fatherhood of GOD results into intimate caring ties with other people to realize divine love. Campaign is from heart to heart and hut to hut, to bring down the barriers of alienation. Such a swadhyayee activist, whatever be his or her status in life, carries his or her own food, accepts hospitality from none, and travels with unfailing regularity. It is strictly a self inspired and self-imposed obligation. It is through bhaktipheri that the fellowship of Swadhyaya begins to grow, expand and consolidate. Proselytizing is strictly discouraged; no effort is made to impose any pattern of activity or belief. These swadhyayee volunteers refuse all hospitality other than simple shelter.

Within this framework, swadhyaya encourages its adherents to undertake a novel kind of Teerthyatra (pilgrimage), to supplement the usual bhaktipheris. It is undertaken by a small group, mostly couples, for a longer duration, say, one week. Over this period they visit various parts of the village and discuss the message of swadhyaya with individuals and groups. At the end of it all, these pilgrims assemble at a predesignated place to show their gratitude to God. The reiterative nature of bhaktipheri and teerthyatra are two crucial modes for integrating myriad local communities into Swadhyayaparivar. Social reformation that took place as a results of these prayogs has been noted by Pramila Jayapul

Vayasth Sanchalans: Vayasth Sanchalans are kind of inspiration meetings of more mature swadhyayees in the eighteen-to-forty age group. These are for three or four days and held at the district or regional level. As the individual swadhyayees move from one encounter to another, they gain a sense of learning and co-discovery. The community involvement thereby becomes an educational process for the people involved and they feel that it gives them an experience of life, which no school seems capable of imparting. On June 16 Vayasth Sanchalan was held at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. Where the mayor announced that June 16 will be known as Swadyay Family Day.

Loknath Amritalayams (eternal abode of the Lord of the world): To restore the temples to their original role as socio-economic centers of the village, Swadhyaya has taken a new initiative of non-sectarian temple-building called Loknath Amritalayam. Built from locally available material and with voluntary labour of the swadhyayees, Amritalayams are simple, semi-permanent structures without walls, but mostly with gardens around them.

Each village couple, irrespective of caste origin, gets a chance to work as priest (pujari) for a few days in the year. Villagers gather in Amritalayam every morning and evening for prayers. A Hindu can recite the Gita with the same freedom as Moslem the Koran or Christian, the Bible. After the evening community prayer, the assembly discusses individual and collective problems and attempts to sort them out informally. It reviews the progress of Swadhyay activities running in the village. At regular intervals the swadhyayee villagers offer to God a portion of their earnings; they do so anonymously and voluntarily. The collections so received are distributed to the needy as benediction (prasad) of Loknath, and the surplus is spent on infrastructural needs of the village as a whole.

More than a place for remembering God, Amritalayam becomes focus of an alternative world of learning and culture, of personal and social renewal, and of community life independent of the state institutions and processes. These are centers where grievances and social problems are sorted out in the spirit of give and take, spirit of mutual help is reinforced, and initiatives are taken for innovations and reforms. Swadhyaya projects an outlook that is sought to be internalised at all levels and Amritalayam is one of the facilitating institutions of swadhyaya. The first Amritalayam was built in 1980. Such villages where ninety per cent people are committed swadhyayees are allowed to build them. There are now about 150 of them and an equal number of villages have graduated to that stage.

Yogeshwar Krishi (divine farming): Yogeshwar Krishi is the practice of collective farming of a single field (normally of three to five acres) in a village by the villagers who each offer devotional labour, possibly for one or two days per cropping season. The resulting crop belongs to no one except God. No one can claim ownership of the produce. The labour input is the offering of the peasant in their role as priests. The wealth generated by

the sale of the output belongs to God and hence apaurusheya or impersonal. Shrambhakti (labour contributed as devotional offering) is the key instrument for generation of internal resources. The benefits of the harvest are redistributed in the village for common good as well as individual need—one-third is used to meet short-term needs of the indigent, not as loan or charity, but as divine grace (prasad). The recipient is under no obligation to repay it, and definitely no interest has to be paid on such sums. Giving and receiving of these sums is done so discreetly and with such subtle grace that it obviates any sense of inferiority on the part of recipients. The remaining two-thirds of the income is kept in a trust fund called Madhavi Raksha Sankalap (an interest-free savings fund derived from earnings) to meet long term needs of the local community and to buy agricultural inputs needed for yogeshwar krushi from time to time. Currently there are some 3500 such devotional farming experiments. Yogeshwar Krishi[6]

Swadhyay is not involved in questions of property relations and peasant rights, but it tries to create a common ground where disinterested action aiming at the good of all is possible. The very opening up of this space projects the possibility of deepening its impact to transform traditionally anchored mindsets. Its initial effort is to rid the farmers of docility and the lower strata of servility and instill in them a feeling of self-respect. The farming community also learns self-reliance and escapes dependence on the state or anybody else.

Shree Darshanam (divine communes): Swadhyaya believes that when the change of ownership takes place before the change in the psychology of man, the egotism of economic man is bound to dominate and thwart the emergence of the self-sufficient satyagrahi or the socially motivated trustee or the enlightened socialist. As equalization of possession does not necessarily eradicate avarice and acquisitiveness, socialization of ownership is no answer to man’s economic predicament. The answer lies not in novel means of egalitarian divisions of property or wealth but in selfless collective action grounded in the belief that God is with me and is my co-partner in my daily life. Such collective efforts are organised not in the framework of competition and fear, but the framework of devotional offering, brotherhood, harmony and selfless action.

To confirm this belief, Swadhyaya has introduced the idea of Shree Darshanam (vision of prosperity) in recent years, where swadhyayees from about twenty neighboring villages, which have Yogeshwar Krishi, come together to work on a single large farm of 20-acre (81,000 m2) or more. The idea is to build selfless relations among the neighbouring villages, inspire the people to sublimate their egos, and extend the inclusiveness of community, cutting across deeply rooted primordial affiliations. Here, Swadhyayees share their expertise of farming along with devotional dialogs among each other. They bring their knowledge to share in their own villages

Matsyagandha: In a similar manner, Swadhyaya has brought a cultural and socio-economic transformation to the fishing communities living in the coastal region of western India, extending from Goa to Okha. The stereotypical image of these sons and daughters of the sea, sagarputras and sagarputris in Swadhyaya idiom, was typical of marginal and disinherited groups. Aggressive, adventurous and sturdy, they were notorious for heavy drinking, gambling, smuggling and all kinds of petty and major crimes. They were despised by others for their profligacy and for their supposed criminal tendencies.

These children of the sea started offering a portion of their earnings (normally a day’s catch each month) at the feet of God. Soon enough they had substantial resources. A productive use of their capital and skill (sailing and fishing) had to be found. Ultimately suggestion came from Dada that with these funds, belonging to one but God, they could buy motorised boats, more efficient tools and tackle. Fishing could be their way to express their devotion to the Creator.

Thus, the experiment called matsyagandha (after a legendary fisherwoman) took its shape STAGING DIVINE COMEDY ON WATERS : SWADHYAYA EXPERIMENT IN INDIAN FISHERIES. The sagarputras treat these matsyagandha boats as floating temples. A crew of six to ten swadhyayee fishermen is onboard each boat. Fishing goes on all year except for a three-month pause during the monsoon period, which is used, for repairs and refitting the boats. The volunteers are many more than the matsyagandha boats. No individual fisherman gets a chance for more than one trip (of 24 hours) in a year. And when the boat is docked during the monsoon, the seamen among the swadhyayees take over the job of repairs and refitting the boats.

The experiment in generating impersonal wealth through fishing on motorised boats and trawlers, and dredging sand from the estuary bed, is similar to yogeshwar krishi. There is no employer and no employee; there are no owners and no workers; none has claim over what he has willingly offered to God. Each fisherman and seaman is a pujari, while he is on his floating temple. The disbursement of wealth created by matsyagandha is similar to that of yogeshwar krishi. To date there are 100 vessels and few more are added each year. An open sea-going cargo ship, S.S. Jayashree Sagar, was launched in October 1996 which regularly plies between India’s west coast and Persian Gulf States. The estimated number of swadhyayee fishermen and women exceeds one million. Over two million rupees are distributed to the needy fishermen as prasad every year who are using it even for non-fishing entrepreneurial activities in such as cyber cafés, trucking and restaurant business.

Vrkshmandirs (tree temples): Vrkshmandir is yet another extremely important experiment that reflects Swadhyaya’s reverence for the environment and the belief in the omnipresence of God and unity of everyone and everything in divine creation. For Swadhyaya, trees are living testament to the omnipresence of God. Acting on this idea, swadhyayees have started renting large pieces of barren lands on long-term lease, or outright purchase, and turning them into upavans (orchards and woodlands) and naming them after an ancient sage. After acquiring an upavan plot, swadhyayees from fifteen to twenty villages around the upavan and from neighbouring towns first rehabilitate its land, dig wells for its irrigation, and then dig the pits for saplings. Most are fruit trees. Finally the day arrives when at a given time, thousand of swadhyayees, from far and near, stand with a sapling in their hands to lower them into the pits. In about five minutes, planting of an orchard of, say, 40 acres (160,000 m2), is complete. Dadaji developed a Dharmic ecology inspired by the qualities of trees, as a Arboreal Dharma,.[7]

Once a vrkshamandir is set up, swadhyayees from neighbouring villages and towns take turns tending these saplings and trees for 24 hours, twice or three times in a year, in a spirit of devotion as pujaris. These pujaris number nearly 100,000. As a result, large plots of totally desolate and barren land are now turning into beautiful lush green orchards, where the survival rate of plants is claimed to be nearly 100 per cent. The first vrkshmandir was raised in July 1979. Now there are 24, covering an area over 500 acres (2 km²). These orchards uniting the rich and the poor, the high castes and the low castes, the erstwhile neighbourhood enemies, the learned and the illiterate into closely knit fabric of Swadhyaya brotherhood. A work of this magnitude under the government social forestry scheme costs million of rupees, with a high loss rate of plants and numerous complaints against it from those who are supposed to be its beneficiaries. Thus, this Dharmic Ecology or Arboreal Dharma is by product of Reverence to Universe.

Water conservation: [1] through Bhugarbh Jal Sanchay and Nirmal Neer, the twin projects of water conservation and management, Swadhyaya is changing the face of large tracts of semi-arid parts of western Gujrat where underground water resources have been all but exhausted. Overuse and blind use of underground water resources has pushed the water table even lower than 500 feet (150 m). By recharging abandoned wells (through replenishing the aquifers) and impounding run-off water in ponds, Swadhyaya has produced dramatic results. Since 1992 it has recharged over 100,000 wells and built or renovated over five hundred ponds. Besides raising farm productivity between 100 and 300 per cent, the cost incurred by Swadhyaya in recharging a well (about five hundred rupees) is nearly one tenth of the cost incurred by official agencies (five thousand rupees). By spending nearly five million man-hours of shrambhakti on this initiative of water harvesting, by 1996–97 Swadhyayya has freed 28,995,320 km² of land from dependence on rain-fed irrigation alone.[8]

Yogeshwar Krishi, Shri Darshanm, Matsygandha, Nirmal Neer, Vrikshmandir are primarily based on Reverence to the Earth, Reverence to the Mother Nature. Economic and ecological benefits is not a primary motive, but is a byproduct of collective efforts and hence these benbefits are Apuarushay Lakshami-Impersonal wealth.

Significance of Swadhyay movement can only be realized by visiting the places where these prayogs have been implemented. Swadhyay, is a slow process of internal transformation in an Individual and in society. One can not measure the success of Swadhyay by the yard stick of economic success, but basic human transformation. One needs an intellectual conviction and realization of Indwelling GOD for the integral development of human life. Swadhyay movement is not limited only to India or any religion as noted by Pramila Jayapal. as follows:

"The transformation brought about by Swadhyay has been neither quick nor easy. The early Swadhyayees often doubted that anything would ever happen. It took 8 to 10 years, they say, to begin to see any kind of change.

Even today, though the movement continues to grow, the process of self-transformation is necessarily slow. “The problems we have in society today will take at least two generations to resolve,” says Dada, “and yet we do not even have the patience to wait two years.”

But Dada's faith in the ultimate ability of Swadhyayees to establish a different kind of world continues to inspire and guide his followers. Few people I have ever met have Dada's courage to look beyond today's realities and believe in the seemingly extravagant possibility of a new world order. Fewer still share his humility. “I have nothing new to offer,” Dada said to us at our last meeting, smiling gently. “I am only restating what has already been said.”

These are almost the same words that Mahatma Gandhi used. What I saw in Dada and in Swadhyayees was a living example of a real search for truth, a re-definition of individual happiness and societal progress, a world of relatedness lost in modern times."

Appiko movementThe Appiko movement was a revolutionary movement based on environmental conservation in India. The Chipko movement (Hug the Trees Movement) in Uttarakhand in the Himalayas inspired the villagers of the district of Karnataka province in southern India to launch a similar movement to save their forests. In September

1983,led by panduranga hegde, men, women and children of Salkani "hugged the trees" in Kalase forest. (The local term for "hugging" in Kannada is appiko.) Appiko movement gave birth to a new awareness all over southern India.

In 1950, Uttara Kannada district forest covered more than 81 percent of its geographical area. The government, declaring this forest district a "backward" area, then initiated the process of "development". Their major industries - a pulp and paper mill, a plywood factory and a chain of hydroelectric dams constructed to harness the rivers - sprouted in the area. These industries have overexploited the forest resource, and the dams have submerged huge-forest and agricultural areas. The forest had shrunk to nearly 25 percent of the district's area by 1980. The local population, especially the poorest groups, were displaced by the dams. The conversion of the natural mixed forests into teak and eucalyptus plantations dried up the water sources, directly affecting forest dwellers. In a nutshell, the three major p's - paper, plywood and power - which were intended for the development of the people, have resulted in a fourth p: poverty.

Deforestation in the Western Ghats

The Sahyadri Range, or the Western Ghats, in southern India is the home of a tropical forest ecosystem. Although this tropical forest constitutes a potentially renewable resource, it is also a very fragileecosystem and therefore merits special attention. The past 30 years have seen the onslaught of "development" activities and an increase in population, both of which have exhausted this fragile resource system. In the case of Kerala, which comprises 42 percent of the entire Western Ghat area, the forest cover fell from 44 percent in 1905 to a meager 9 percent in 1984.

Such deforestation in the Western Ghats has caused severe problems for all southern India. The recurring drought in the provinces of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu clearly indicates watershed degradation. The power generation, water supply and ultimately the whole economy of southern India is adversely affected. The drought in Karnataka Province indicates the extent of the damage caused by change in Sahyadri's fragile ecosystem. The ongoing "development" policy of exploiting the "resources - mainly forest and mineral resources - in the Western Ghats for the benefit of the elite has deprived the poor of their self-supporting systems.

The Appiko Movement is trying to save the Western Ghats by spreading its roots all over southern India. The movement's objectives can be classified into three major areas. First, the Appiko Movement is struggling to save the remaining tropical forests in the Western Ghats. Second, it is making a modest attempt to restore the greenery to denuded areas. Third, it is striving to propagate the idea of rational utilization in order to reduce the pressure on forest resources. To save, to grow and to use rationally - popularly known in Kannada as Ulisu ("save"), Belesu ("grow") and Balasu ("rational use") - is movement's popular slogan.

As said earlier, the deforestation in the Western Ghats has already affected hydroelectric dams, reservoirs and agriculture. The central government's Planning Commission has recognized the "high depletion" of natural resources in the Western Ghats in its Seventh Five Year Plan document. The first area of priority for the Appiko Movement is the remaining tropical forests of Western Ghats. The area is so sensitive that to remove the forest cover will lead to a laterization process, converting the land into rocky mountains. Thus a renewable resources becomes a nonrenewable one. Once laterization sets in, it will take centuries for trees to grow on that land. Before we reach such an extreme point the Appiko Movement aims to save the remaining forests in the Western Ghats through organizing decentralized groups at the grassroots level to take direct a

The Movement Methods

The Appiko Movement uses various techniques to raise awareness: foot marches in the interior forests, slide shows, folk dances, street plays and so on. The movement has achieved a fair amount of success: the state government has banned felling of green trees in some forest areas; only dead, dying and dry trees are felled to meet local requirements. The movement has spread to the four hill districts of Karnataka Province, and has the potential to spread to the Eastern Ghats in Tamil Nadu Province and to Goa Province.

The second area of the Appiko Movement's work is to promote afforestation on denuded lands. In the villagers to grow saplings. Individual families as well as village youth clubs have taken an active interest in growing decentralized nurseries. An all-time record of 1.2 million saplings were grown by people in the Sirsi area in 1984-1985. No doubt this was possible due to the cooperation of the forest department, which supplied the plastic bags for growing saplings. In the process of developing the decentralized nursery, the activists realized that forest department makes extra money in raising a nursery. The cost paid for one sapling grown by a villager was 20 paise (US 2c), whereas the cost of a single sapling raised by the forest department amounted to a minimum of Rs 2 (US 15c). In addition, the forest department used fertilizers and gave tablets to saplings. The Appiko Movement's experience has brought an overuse of chemical fertilizers into the forest nursery, making it a capital-intensive, money-making program. The nursery program propagated by the forest department is really

a means for utilizing village labor at cheap rates. Appiko activists have learned lessons from this experience, and they are now growing saplings only to meet their own needs, not to give to the forest department.

The villagers have initiated a process of regeneration in barren common land. The Youth Club has taken the responsibility for the project and the whole village has united to protect this land from grazing, lopping and fire. The experience shows that in those areas where soil is present, natural regeneration is the most efficient and least expensive method of bringing barren area under free cover. In the areas in which topsoil is washed off, tree planting - especially of indigenous, fast-growing species - is done. The irony is that the forest department is resorting to the mechanized planting of exotic species, and also uses huge amounts of fertilizers on these exotic, monoculture plantations. This work will definitely harm the soil, and eventually the tree cover, in the area. Two obvious techniques of greening are being performed: one the forest department's method, is capital intensive, and the other, the people's technique of growing through regeneration, is a natural process for sustainable development of the soil.

The third major area of activity in the Appiko Movement is related to rational use of the ecosphere through introducing alternative energy sources to reduce the pressure on the forest. The activists have constructed 2,000 fuel-efficient chulhas ("hearths") in the area, which save fuelwood consumption by almost 40 percent. The activists do not wait for government subsidies or assistance, since there is spontaneous demand from the people. Even in Sizsi town and in other urban areas, these chulhas are installed in hotels, reducing firewood consumption.

The other way to reduce pressure on the forest is through building gobar (gas plants). An increasing number of people are building bio-gas plants. However, the Appiko activists are more interested in those people who are from poorer sections - who cannot afford gas plants - so they emphasize chulhas.

Some people deter the regeneration process in the forest area through incorrect lopping practices. The Appiko Movement is trying to change people's attitudes so that they realize their mistake and stop this practice.

The thrust of the Appiko Movement in carrying out its work reveals the constructive phase of the people's movement. Through this constructive phase, depleted natural resources can be rebuilt. This process promotes sharing of resources in an egalitarian way, helping the forest dwellers. The movement's aim is to establish a harmonious relationship between people and nature, to redefine the term development so that ecological movements today form a basis for a sustainable, permanent economy in the future.

Save Silent ValleySave Silent Valley was a social movement aimed at the protection of Silent valley, an evergreen tropical forest in the Palakkad district of Kerala, India. It was started in 1973 to save the Silent Valley Reserve Forest in from being flooded by a hydroelectric project. The valley was declared as Silent Valley National Park in 1985. Nonetheless the controversy surrounding the valley is still on.

Background

The Kuntipuzha is a major river that flows 15 km southwest from Silent Valley. It takes its origin in the lush green forests of Silent valley. In 1928 the location at Sairandhri on the Kunthipuzha River was identified as an ideal site for electricity generation. A study and survey was conducted in 1958 of the area about the possibility of a hydroelectric project of 120 MV and one costing Rs. 17 Crore was later proposed by the Kerala State Electricity Board.

The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) decided to implement the Silent Valley Hydro-Electric Project (SVHEP) centered on a dam across the Kunthipuzha River in 1973. The resulting reservoir would have flood 8.3 km² of virgin rainforest. The proposal was enquired by National Committee on Environmental Planning and Co-ordination (NCEPC) and suggested 17 safeguards to be implemented in case the project implemented. A shortage of funds delayed activity. Even then from 1974 to 1975 a very large number of trees were felled in the area.KSEB announced its plan to begin dam construction in 1973.

Beginnings

After the announcement of imminent dam construction the valley became the focal point of "Save Silent Valley", India's fiercest environmental debate of the decade. Because of concern about the endangered lion-tailed macaque, the issue was brought to public attention. Romulus Whitaker, founder of the Madras Snake Park and the Madras Crocodile Bank, was probably the first person to draw public attention to the small and remote area.[1] In 1977 the Kerala Forest Research Institute carried out an Ecological Impact study of the Silent Valley area and proposed that the area be declared a Biosphere Reserve.

In 1978 Smt. Indira Gandhi, the Honorable Prime Minister of India, approved the project, with the condition that the State Government enact Legislation ensuring the necessary safeguards. Also that year

the IUCN (Ashkhabad, USSR, 1978) passed a resolution recommending protection of Lion-tailed Macaques in Silent Valley and Kalakkad and the controversy heated up. In 1979 the Government of Kerala passed Legislation regarding the Silent Valley Protection Area (Protection of Ecological balance Act of 1979) and issued a notification declaring the exclusion of the Hydroelectric Project Area from the proposed National Park.

Participants

Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishath (KSSP) effectively aroused public opinion on the requirement to save Silent Valley. They also published a Techno-economic and Socio-Political assessment report on the Silent Valley Hydroelectric project. The poet activist Sugathakumari played an important role in the silent valley protest and her poem "Marathinu Stuthi" (Ode to a Tree) became a symbol for the protest from the intellectual community and was the opening song/prayer of most of the "save the Silent Valley" campaign meetings.[2] Dr. Salim Ali, eminent ornithologist of the Bombay Natural History Society, visited the Valley and appealed for cancellation of the Hydroelectric Project.[3] A petition of writ was filed before the High Court of Kerala, against the clear cutting of forests in the Hydroelectric Project area and the court ordered a stop to the clear cutting.

Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, the renowned Agricultural Scientist, and then Secretary to the Department of Agriculture, called at the Silent Valley region and his suggestion was 389.52 km² including the Silent Valley (89.52 km²), New Amarambalam (80 km²), Attappadi (120 km²) in Kerala and Kunda in Tamil Nadu (100 km²) reserve forests, should be made into a National Rainforest Biosphere Reserve, with the aim of "preventing erosion of valuable genes from the area".[4] Listen :(8:46)  to Dr. M. S. Swaminathan speaking on Sustainable Development, p.83, August 27, 2002

In January 1980 the Hon. High Court of Kerala lifted the ban on clear cutting, but then the Hon. Prime Minister of India requested the Government of Kerala to stop further works in the project area until all aspects were fully discussed. In December, the Government of Kerala declared the Silent Valley area, excluding the Hydroelectric Project area, as a National Park.

In 1982 a multidisciplinary committee with Prof. M. G. K. Menon as chairman, was created to decide if the Hydroelectric Project was feasible without any significant ecological damage. Early in 1983, Prof. Menon's Committee submitted its report. After a careful study of the Menon report, the Hon. Prime Minister of India decided to abandon the Project. On October 31, 1984 Indira Gandhi wasassassinated and on November 15 the Silent Valley forests were declared as a National Park, though the boundaries of the Silent Valley Park were limited and no buffer zone was created, despite recommendations by expert committees and scientists.[5]

Park inaugurated

Ten months later, on September 7, 1985 the Silent Valley National Park was formally inaugurated and a memorial at Sairandhri to Indira Gandhi was unveiled by Shri. Rajiv Gandhi, the new Hon. Prime Minister of India. On September 1, 1986 Silent Valley National Park was designated as the core area of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.

Since then, a long-term conservation effort has been undertaken to preserve the Silent Valley ecosystem.[6]

A New Dam proposal

In 2001 a new Hydro project was proposed and the "Man vs. Monkey debate" was revived. The proposed site of the dam (64.5 m high and 275 m long) is just 3.5 km downstream of the old dam site at Sairandhiri, 500 m outside the National Park boundary. The 84 km² catchment of the project area included 79 km² of the Silent Valley National Park.

The Kerala Minister for Electricity called The Pathrakkadavu dam (PHEP) an "eco-friendly alternative" to the old Silent Valley project. The PHEP was designed as a run-off-the-river project with an installed capacity of 70 MW in the first phase (105 MW eventually) and an energy generation of 214 million units (Mu) with a minimal gross storage of 0.872 million cubic metres. The claim was that the submergence area of the PHEP would be a negligible .041 km² compared to 8.30 km² submergence of the 1970s (SVHEP).[8]. However, The spectacular waterfall between the Neelikkal and Pathrakkadavu hills bordering the Silent Valley will disappear if the proposed Pathrakkadavu hydro-electric project is implemented.[9] - Image

During January to May 2003 a rapid Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was carried out during by the Thiruvananthapuram-based Environmental Resources Research Centre and its report was released in December, stating that forest lost due to the project would be just .2216 km², not including the 7.4 km approach road and land to be acquired for the powerhouse in Karapadam.

Chhattisgarh Mukti MorchaChhattisgarh Mukti Morcha (Chhattisgarh Liberation Front) is a political party in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh.

On the 3rd of March 1977 the Chhattisgarh Mines Shramik Sangh (Chhattisgarh Mines Workers' Union) was founded by Shankar Guha Niyogi. In 1982 CMSS formed CMM as their political front. CMM was formed to fight for the cultural identity of the region and for upliftment for the workers and peasants. CMM organized social campaigns, such as against alcohol abuse and instituted social projects, such as a workers' financed hospital.

Niyogi was murdered in Bhilai 1991.

Today Janak Lal Thakur is the president of CMM and Anoop Singh its secretary.

The motto of CMMs is Sangharsh aur Nirman (Struggle and Construction). Another motto is Virodh Nahi Vikalp (Not resistance, but alternative).

CMM was neutral on the issue of formation of a separate Chhattisgarh state.

CMM is very active in the struggle against genetically modified seeds.

In the legislative assembly elections in Chhattisgarh 2003 CMM had put up eight candidates, whom together mustered 37,335 votes.

Bibliography

Politics in India after independence CLASS 12 political science text book chapter VII 2007

NCERT

Sanjay Sanghvi: "The New People’s Movements in India" in: Economic and political weekly.

42, no. 50, (2007): 111

Ghanshyam Shah: Social Movements in India: A review of Literature, SAGE, 2004

Social Movements in India : Poverty, Power, and Politics,edited Raka Ray and Mary Fainsod

Katzenstein, Oxford University Press, 2005