I saw your first email as i was running out of the house and really did know what to say and was away from email since.

Mohanji was actually one of the first people I met when I came to Devdungri in the summer of 1996. I think he simply did not get what i was doing there and i took some time to figure him out:) Actually i distinctly remember the very first time we had a discussion by ourselves was just a few days after i came. I was by myself, terrified that someone will come by and want to speak to me and Mohanji it was who came, with some land records, of someone else who was in a trouble of course. He said there was a problem, he did not say much and i understood even less. He put it front of me…and he was also checking me out, whether i could prove of some use. Because i had done some work on land records with some organisations on land in Raigad while at TISS, i at least knew which was the right way to read the crop register and mutation entry but there were a couple of maps which totally stumped me. I looked up very confused and he simply smiled, it said it all. Lal Singh walked in, much to my relief, but to my surprise, if i remember right, he took one look at the papers and asked me to explain them, much to the amusement of Mohanji.

He could be as warm as he was prickly. He sang Kabir more than he talked about it as such… i remember it used to take him time to warm up and when he did, it was quite incredible. I remember the recoding we did with Boorji once, i Tilonia. At one point everytime Boorji asked Mohanji to sing two particular verses of his ballad–’the’ song that only he could sing like that–Mohanji would sing the first one right and sing something else for the second. After about 15 minutes we thought Boorji was going to explode. Shankar, Ramnivas and myself could not stop laughing. When i was taking care of the shops he had a complaint to make about someone or the other working in the shops everyday.

My memory of him will always be of someone who just kept walking, his eyes level, intense and he seldom smiled when he did not mean it. And i cannot but not think of Chunnibai…please give her a hug and tell her to sing too when you’ll sing rang rang ka phool khile hai from me too…
Zindabad Mohanji.
Vijay

He was the very first person I met when I landed in Devdungri. I got off ahead of the spot I should have actually got off, feeling a bit lost I wondered what to do, when he showed up at my side and directed me to the hut. What I remember most vividly about him was his smile. Warm and open. From that first meeting onwards, he became the one person I saw most frequently & spent time with through out my time in Devdungri. His petulant anger when he was hungry was legendary in the MKSS circles. The songs he composed and sang were powerful statements and voiced the sentiments of the poor. His words and his voice will be missed in our struggle as will his unstinted support & presence. I will always miss you Mohanji. Deeply!
Sowmya

I am saddened to hear that Mohanba has passed away. He was a special person and someone whom I admire. I have fond memories of my interactions with him although I regret the fact that I did not spend as much time with him Devdungri as I could have spent. I missed an opportunity to fully benefit from his wisdom and life exepriences.
I spoke to Nikhil yesterday and we discussed Mohanba. I told him that one of my most enduring memories of Mohanba is from a train ride that a number of us from the MKSS took to Orissa to attend an Action Aid social audit. It was a long train ride and I got restless during the journey when I noticed Mohanba sitting contently and deep in his own thoughts. This was early in my time with the MKSS and I had not really had many discusions with Mohanba. I asked him what he was thinking about. He replied that he was thinking about donating part of his land to the MKSS. I only realized the significance of what he said later on when I learned from discussions with Lal Singhji and Baluji that people who inherit land from their parents don’t really consider the land to be their personal property to distribute to just anyone. It is seen as property that they hold in custody and pass on to their sons. To me this incident reflects the depth of Mohanba’s attachment to the MKSS and how in some ways he was a man ahead of his times.

I will never get an opportunity to see him again but he will forever be a source of inspiration for me. My thoughts are with his family and the MKSS.

Love and Zindabad,

Vivek

Its like a bulwark of the sangathan has passed into its foundation. And I say bulwark because as a dalit with little means and without literacy, he was one of those ‘last persons’ from whom the call nyaya samanta ho aadhar aisa rachenge hum sansar found its strength, and in many a song, its voice. I can hear him sing, around the villages, across the towns and in those nights when we listened to kabir,” haathi maan to moto ban jawe, cheenti maa tu chhoto kyun, inka bhed bata re maare awadhu sabit karni karta kyun. nar nari maan ek biraje do duniya mein dikhe kyun. chori kar ke bhagan laga, pakadne walo tu ko tu..” please sing this song from me when you meet at his place and the other one of my favourites from his, rang rang ka phool khila hai.. and of course han liyo raaj, when he did sing it, it was beautiful. His voice will always remain within us, reverberating.

Mohanji made his presence felt like a slender, tall, beautiful and timeless gnarled tree to me with his permanent lines, beautiful voice and crazy temper. I hope Chunni bai will sing soon, and sing with his voice too. Grief of what we lose, no matter how, inflects our lives with deeper layers always, and loss becomes a finding, I hope to hear her sing the next time I meet her.
Love and zindabad,
Preeti

Dear Preeti,
Mohanji has left his lyrics, his songs and his immense legacy to the poor in Bhim and neighbouring blocks, to Rajasthan, and to the MKSS . His will always be the definitive story , in the beginning of the chronicle of the RTI and of the MKSS.
I will miss his contribution to my politics. He always pulled me out of any cynicism or despair I may have had from time to time. I was ashamed of being so, when faced with his faith in the Sangathan and the future. He was a later day Micawber -” something will turn up ” , and it always does ! With nothing materially to guarantee a future he managed to be eternally positive. A huge personal loss for me.
Love
Aruna
Dear Aruna, For Mohanji–His yellow turban and gleaming eye; old black coat flapping around his ever shrinking, unbending, frame; swelling throat, pointed finger and ever rising voice; lightning to the ear, setting the heart afire; burning thru the here and now; making us remember(moist eyed) why we are….
Sumir

www.pensionparishad.org

The website contains details about the Dharnas including photos, press notes and press coverage.

The upcoming Pension Parishad Dharna in Delhi from 4th-8th March 2013 will see nearly 25,000 participants from different parts of the country. An important aspect of the Dharna is who funds this campaign and how.

The method adopted by the MKSS to raise funds for the 500 participants from Rajasthan is as follows:

Thus behind every person who travels to Delhi, 20 people from his/her villager contribute Rs. 20 to generate Rs. 400 torwards the travel cost of that person. The participant who travels himself will pay Rs. 100. In this way, Rs. 500 is raised for every person who will participate in the upcoming Pension Parishad Dharna in Delhi.
Thus the 500 participants represent the support of 10,000 villagers who have sponsored them to Delhi.
Here is a look at our preparations and fund raising campaign for the dharana:

Rajsamand shows the way with Right to Hearing Act

and by the Times of India :

 Rajasthan’s Rajsamand shows the way

February 14, 2013

10-11.30AM

Over 1200 students from 6 schools in Bhim participated in a huge rally through Bhim market to protest against violence on women. The students prepared posters with slogans, songs and two powerful streetplays depicting stories from their own vsillages on dowry, domestic violence, drunken abuse, infanticide and child marriage. The stories for the streetplay were carved from their own village and experiences, and devised by the children themselves.

The rally was kicked off with a recitation of the OBR Pledge which was chanted in chorus by all the students, teachers, organizers and onlookers. Throughout the rally, colorful posters were waved by the children, expressing their views and thoughts on the issue of violence in their villages and homes.

Slogans such as ‘Beti ko sammaan do, bete jaisa pyar do’,‘Naari Jaati ka apmaan, nahi sahega Hindustan’, ‘Beti ko maar daaloge, toh dulhan kahan se laaoge?’, ‘Damini kehti baar baar, mujhko do mera adhikar”, ‘Ek Beti Padhegi, toh Sau Ladki Badhegi’ rang throughout. The children had crafted these slogans and poems throughout the week in preparation for their event today.

The rally began from Paatiya Grounds,went through Sujaji chowk, the highway, the bus stand, and finally to the Tehsil in Bhim. The large gathering paused at Sujaji chowk and the Tehsil for the hard-hitting streetplays which were watched by villagers and the people in the market town of Bhim.

The Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan through this rally integrated the voices of Bhim into the worldwide OBR movement.

Rajasthan is the only State so far to have enacted a ‘Right to Hearing’ Act, and Rajsamand District, the only district where this Act has been implemented through an appropriate implementation system. The ‘Right to Hearing Camp’ being organized in Togi Gram Panchayat is the latest in a series of camps in which MKSS and the district administration are working together to help institutionalize a system of redress of grievances. Under the Act, citizens -

1.       Have access to a single window system across government departments at every Panchayat for complainants to submit their complaint in writings. Every Panchayat should be open daily for   3 hours to allow complainants to register their complaints/ applications. In Rajsamand, Rozgar Sahayaks have been made the designated official assigned to collect complaints. This should also make it easier for them to take MGNREGA work applications at the same time. This single window system has been institutionalized in Rajsamand District. 

2.       Are provided with dated receipts upon submitting complaints. The receipt also must have details of when and where the hearing for the complainant is to be held and with which government department. This provision of dated receipts has been institutionalized in Rajsamand District.

3.  Are having a fixed hearing date, and are entitled to a public hearing which is held on a fixed date at the Panchayat and District level. Government officials from each department are required to be present, and the hearing is held in the open, in public, so that people can complaint as a part of a collective. The process of a public hearing has been institutionalized in Rajsamand District. 

4.      Are entitled to a written response within 21 days of having submitted the complaint. This has been institutionalized in Rajsamand District.

5.    Are entitled to an Appeal Process where erring officials are penalized. Automatic action should also be taken concerned officials who do not comply with sending a written response within 21 days. This has not been worked out in Rajsamand District yet as the Act has been implemented only recently.

6.      Not in the Act – Proactive disclosure - Proactive disclosure through wall painting and flexes of the names of beneficiaries, and summary of benefits with regard to services from every department. This creates awareness about entitlements, allow beneficiaries to monitor delivery themselves. This has been institutionalized in Rajsamand District even though it is not a part of the Act.

In implementing the Act through Camps (including registering every prashasan gaon ki aur applications under the Right to Hearing Act) where government officials from each department are required to be present, several complaints are sorted out immediately, at the first stage of submitting a complaint. However, some complaints are more time taking as they are locked into the system. The RTH receipt ensures that the matter does not lapse with the camp. The requirement of producing a written response in 21 days pushes the bureaucracy to work to correct its systemic flaws, and become more accountable.

The camps have had dramatic results of hundreds and thousands of individual and collective grievances coming to light. These have been in relation to electricity and water supply, ration and pension delivery, failed construction of roads, problems in schemes such as the Indira Awaas Yojna (housing for the rural poor), and the Janani Suraksha Yojna (monetary benefits for pregnant mothers). Even complaints regarding issues such as the illegal occupation of land have surfaced in the camps.

These are lessons from Rajsamand for proper implementation of RTH all over Rajasthan and for the Grievance Redress Bill pending passage in Parliament:

The ‘Right to Hearing’ camp has shown that effective redress of grievances is a natural and necessary next step from the Right to Information Act in pushing government from transparency to accountability.  The experiences from Rajsamand show that this system can ensure a degree of accountability where the vast majority of daily expectations and problems ordinary people have with government can be addressed. The grievance redress bill which is to be brought for passage in the coming budget session of Parliament has the potential to substantially and dramatically improve governance. It is thus absolutely essential that the bill which is passed be implemented immediately and put in place an effective system where people have the individual and collective power to demand their rights and push the State to deliver. This is a slow and persistent process, but brings about change with dignity.

Note: The essentials of an accountability mechanism  are Soochna/jankari, sunwai, karyavahi, bhagidari aur suraksha

The ‘Right to Hearing’ camp is not only about ‘Sunwai’ or ‘Hearing’ though that is a basic preliminary step in a process of grievance redress. By combining proactive disclosure through wall painting, the camps have become platforms for creating awareness about rights and entitlements (soochna/ jankari), and have also become spaces for participation (or bhagidari) in holding government accountable. As the camps are being held by the administration and representatives from each department are present, the camps provide an opportunity to correct certain actionable wrongs on the spot, and to initiate longer processes of mending flaws in the system (karyavahi).

We must ensure that complainants are given adequate protection because often the ones who make complaints are the first to be intimidated and get physically attacked.